Travis Graveson's Story

Kay's bright "hi!" was an abrupt change in tone, and Phoenix turned to see Jaiden and Violet were back. Their presence was a welcome distraction. He'd told Kay the truth and... he could tell she didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to see her get hurt, but if she wasn't going to listen to him, there wasn't much else he could do. Not now, at least. He didn't want to continue with this conversation either. All of the guilt, the anger, the pain of the past few days was sitting in his chest like a physical weight.

He forced a smile as Violet asked Kay if she was coming with them. "Yeah, we're going back to mine, just to relax for a while. I've got brownies and we're probably going to make some hot chocolate and find something dumb on TV to watch. You want to come?" He asked. He liked Kay, he really did, but the thought that she might keep asking questions and talking about Alex wasn't exactly one he was totally okay with. But he wasn't going to just walk away and not say anything. And besides, she might cheer Jaiden and Violet up a little. That would be worth it.

"I also have that tea you love," he said with a raised eyebrow and a smile. "Come on, it'll be nice." Being in groups like this made the absence of Alex feel all the worse. He had always just been there. It had been said more than once about them that they practically came as a pair. Phoenix could handle being alone. It was when it felt like he should have been there that the hole was felt. But what could he do? He wasn't going to risk making things worse. As much as he wanted to, he knew he wasn't the right person right now. So he'd just have to... wait and hope. Just like he always did.

"Come on then, let's go. It's too cold to be standing around like this," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and heading back towards his apartment.

Rosie just nodded as Neden said they were going to deal with the body. Rosie had learned that when it came to Neden, it was generally better not to ask too many questions. She didn't react, simply stared at her shoes as Trav asked them all to at least listen to him. And then Neden left, leaving the two of them alone for a few minutes.

"I'll tell them you did it to save me," she said quietly. "They'll... they'll respect that much. But I need you to tell me something, and I need you to tell me the truth," she said, sitting forward and holding his gaze. "Travis, how did he know I was a siren? He called me pretty little siren and knew to cover my mouth. I don't look like a siren from mythology."

But before Travis could answer, Markus came back in. He still looked deep in thought, and Rosie looked at Trav. Don't say anything. She got to her feet. "I think we could all do with tea, yes?" She said in her usual bright banner, brushing herself down and heading out to the kitchen. She pulled down a few mugs and put some water on to boil, leaning against the counter as she did so. Suddenly, things seemed much more dangerous. Things had felt... wrong since the first attack, but the feeling was worse than ever. Nothing like this had ever happened before. She knew that much. And she'd heard the stories, of towns like this that were destroyed and its surviving inhabitants forced to move and scattered across the world. She didn't want that to happen again. She wouldn't let it happen again, not if she could do anything to stop it.

Even if it had been the last thing he’d wanted to do at one stage, he was glad he brought the others round. It made him feel a little less alone for a while. It made things feel a little more normal. Made it a little easier to deal with. But it couldn’t last forever, and all too soon, he was alone again. He went back to his repetitive routine. Run, work, sleep. Repeat, repeat, rinse and repeat, over and over again. Sometimes he went to Markus’ to see Jaiden and Violet. He perfected his Opera Cake recipe at 3AM one morning. Abuela still came for her bread and pastries, and Phoenix pretended he was more okay than he actually was. She’d always been able to see right through him, and her sad smile as she left told him that that hadn’t changed. But it was either that or probably end up crying at work when he spoke to her, and he refused to give in to that.

Kay appeared to have forgiven him, at least. She still asked if he’d spoken to Alex again, and he’d force a smile and shake his head and say no, they were just too busy. The flower crown still sat on a bookshelf in Phoenix’s apartment, the only place he could find for it where it wasn’t going to be staring him in the face every time he walked into the apartment. She still seemed convinced that Alex had genuinely meant the flirting, and he wasn’t sure what else he could do or say to convince her otherwise. How could she not have known that he was like that with everyone? Was it because she’d only ever really seen him with Phoenix, and he had never been like that with him? Or did she just really believe that he was different with her? He’d told her to bring him the brown flowers she mentioned. Maybe the flowers might make him smile and it would be worth it.

He didn’t want to leave his apartment, but his cupboards and fridge were so low that he really needed to get groceries. Travis always stayed open a little later to serve the night-dwellers, which meant that Phoenix was able to call in after work. Travis was pleasant as always, but Phoenix wasn’t particularly in the mood for a chat. He took his groceries and left again.

There was a strange energy in the air as he walked back to his apartment. He couldn’t explain it, but it was… oddly familiar, and not in a good way. It was a tension, as if something bad was about to happen.

He’d just gotten back into his apartment and put the groceries down on the counter when he heard the first scream. Something told him to slam the door and lock it, told him to hide. But instead, he sprinted back down the stairs, back into town. The hunters were back. He met one almost at his door, but before he could react, a vampire appeared from nowhere and tackled the hunter, their teeth already in the hunter’s neck. Phoenix turned and ran, running back towards town.

He didn’t expect to see Abuela there. He wasn’t, however, surprised to see her punch a hunter who was at least a foot taller than her in the face and knee him in the groin. “Abuela! Where’s Alex?” He called. He didn’t give a damn about their fight, he needed to make sure he was safe. He hadn’t dealt well with the first attack, so if they were going to be attacked again, he had to try and help. “He went to the graveyard!” Abuela called back, and Phoenix took off running again, avoiding the hunters as best he could.

Rosie and Travis excused themselves from Markus'. He insisted on walking her home to make sure she got home safe. And it was there that he told her the truth of why the hunter had known who she was. She wasn't exactly happy about it, but it did make sense at least. It was an answer.

The next few days were quiet. Too quiet. Neden and Travis stayed passing on the information from the patrols, and everything was quiet. Considering they'd captured and killed one of the hunters, Rosie knew that quiet was certainly not a good thing. It was a matter of time before they retaliated. And they needed to be prepared. The patrols got bigger and patrolled for longer. She and a few of the other teachers stayed after hours to make sure the kids who stayed late got home safe, walking or driving them home themselves if needed. They were preparing for an attack, if they couldn't make it obvious.

So when she heard the screaming start from town, she knew exactly what it was. She'd stayed after school to make sure the drama kids got home from rehearsal safe. When they'd announced they were doing a production of Macbeth, Rosie had gotten roped in as director. It was turning out better than she'd imagined, but that afternoon, she hadn't been able to focus on any of it. She was just getting her stuff ready to leave when the screaming started. She and the others had prepared for this. Their first priority was to get the kids home safely.

She and half a dozen sophomores had ended up too close to the centre of town, where the worst of the attacks seem to be concentrated. She'd decided that it wasn't worth getting them all home, and instead was going to bring them back to hers. There was enough room and she could keep them safe. And then a hunter ambushed them. Her kids were ready to fight, but not as ready as Rosie. He hadn't expected her to take flight and kick him in the face from the air. But he recovered quickly and grabbed her ankles, yanking them towards her. She leaned into it and drove the force of her weight into it, knocking him out. She hit the ground and yelled for her students to run. And they ran, just like she'd told them to. They were kids. They didn't need to fight this fight, they needed to be safe. She got to her feet and started following them, catching up to them easily. She was going to protect these kids, no matter what. No matter what she had to do.

There was more hunters than last time. They seemed to be swarming from everywhere. She didn't have enough room between the trees to take to the air, so instead she was using her wings to shelter as many of the kids as she could as they ran. And now they were using freaking arrows. She narrowly dodged one and had pulled one of her group into a bear hug to stop her from being hit. She was trying to think if there was anywhere nearer they could use when Markus emerged from the woods. Rosie shot him a relieved smile, but then they hit him with an arrow too. She knew Markus didn't go down that easy, but that didn't stop the concern from twisting her stomach. He just yanked it out with a grimace, and shot her a look that she understood entirely. When he told them to look away, she listened, spreading her wings to shield her students. It was less for their sake and more for Markus' privacy. She knew the transformation wasn't pleasant, and knew he wouldn't want an audience. The growl made her smile a little, and as the wolf lunged to attack the hunter, she took into a sprint, darting back towards her house.

Rosie had just gotten the kids back inside when she turned around to find the hunters on her porch. She prepared herself for a fight, her wings snapping out from behind her. Someone called her name, a warning as there was a bang, and the hunter nearest Rosie fell to her knees. Rosie aimed a kick at her face, feeling a satisfying crunch as the woman's nose broke and she stumbled back. "Monster bitch-" the woman growled, slashing out with the knife. Rosie jumped to avoid the swipe and came down hard on the woman's hand, sending the knife flying out of reach. The woman tried to grab Rosie's legs to pull her to her level, but another kick to the face and the woman fell backwards, unmoving. The blood loss from the bullet wound would probably take care of her, but Rosie took the opportunity to tie her to the railings anyway, just in case. Her song wouldn't work on an unconscious victim, she'd learned that along the way.

She turned as somebody called her name, and frowned to see Travis limping towards her, insisting she went back inside. "Do you seriously think I'm not going to fight this, Trav? I'm not losing anyone else to them," she said. "And let me have a look at that leg before you make it worse, you hear me?" She said. He shrugged her off, told her they seemed to be wearing armour. She raised an eyebrow as he held out the pistol, but it did make sense. She sighed, and took it. She just smirked as Trav held out a hand to her, saying he wasn't going to let her fight alone. "I'm not going to hold your hand through it, Travis," she teased, striding past him. "No matter how scared you might be." She teased, before striding back into the woods. A hunter charged at her almost right away, and she raised the gun and squeezed the trigger. One shot in the shoulder, and another square in the best as he stared in shock at her. "Travis, come on, back into town!" She called, already starting to sprint through the woods. She spotted a familiar figure helping somebody into their home, and a hunter appearing to try and chase them. Rosie didn't use the gun, instead taking to the air and throwing her weight on top of the guy. As he struggled, she leaned in to his ear and sang softly, softly enough that nobody else would hear. She commanded him to go fight against the other hunters, before climbing back off and brushing herself down. "If you need more space, I've got about a class of high school students in my place but could fit a few more. Let me know if you need help with anything," she said to Zada as the hunter she'd entranced raised his gun and started shooting at his teammates. She smirked at Zada, before turning and catching back up with Travis.

Rosie made her way back to catch up to Travis. She'd noticed somebody running past them out of the corner of her eye, but hadn't seen who it was. When Trav said that it was Kay and that she'd seemed upset. She thought for a second, before nodding. The fighting seemed to be beginning to die down, and besides, she had promised she'd look out for Kay.

The lake was frozen over as they reached it, Travis having apparently seen Kay going this way. But there was no sign of her, and the area was apparently empty. She was about to suggest moving on. She didn't like lingering in this spot for too long, it always made her a little uneasy. But before she could say anything, there was a crash and a scream that seemed all too familiar. Something hit the ice and was there for half a second before the ice cracked and gave way beneath them. Travis was in motion already, running for the lake.

"Travis, don't! I can hold my breath for- oh you idiot," she swore as Travis ignored her and went into the water after Kay. So instead, she turned and screamed for help. They were under for a while, for too long. The water had to be too cold for Travis to stay under that long. If he'd just thought for one damn second... Sirens were built to withstand stormy waters, she would have handled it better. But no, he had to be the goddamn hero.

She sighed with relief as his head broke the surface again, followed by Kay's. He dragged Kay back out of the water, and Rosie was by her side in a minute, already assessing the situation. The cold wasn't an issue for Kay, but she had fallen from a height and had been underwater for a while. Travis, however, was shivering and soaked to the skin. "Get the wet clothes off of you, it'll only make you colder. Wrap this around you and put your own damn jacket back on," she ordered, pulling off her coat and hurling it at him. There was no way it would fit him, but it would be some protection against the cold. She needed to focus on Kay. She was guessing Kay had inhaled some water. "Come on, Kay," she coaxed as she began to pump her chest, trying to get her to coax up the water. "Yeah, well, next time if you just freaking take ten seconds to listen to me-" she said in response to Travis' apology, mostly focusing on what she was doing.

They cried more that night than either of them had in years. Phoenix held it together until he was out of Alex’s sight and earshot, but the shock of seeing himself covered in his own blood was startling, and the realization of what had almost happened- what had happened, if only for seconds, minutes- hit home. And once the levee broke, it didn’t take much for the floods to start again. Just pulling on clean, dry then clothes was almost enough to set him off, but the fact that they smelled like Abuela’s washing detergent, that they smelled like Alex, sent him into floods of tears. Hugging Alex again when he got back into the kitchen. Laughter at Phoenix having to rescue the hot chocolate and the mac and cheese that turned into tears all over again. Phoenix waking them both up when he woke up from a brutal nightmare, already choking on sobs.

It got better with time. Once the shock and the horror and the guilt of the night was over, things got easier. Phoenix thought Abuela was actually going to cry when she came back the next morning to find the two of them sitting in her kitchen as if the past few weeks had never happened. And as horrible as the night before had been, that feeling of familiarity as the three of them sat in the kitchen and chatted and laughed made everything feel so much better. It felt like coming home.

But not everything was the same. It seemed their entire lives had been shaped by dumb, reckless decisions- and Phoenix’s decision to kiss Alex again after Alex insisted on walking him back to his apartment was no different. He realised the minute that he did it that he might have messed up, that he might be ruining everything they’d just fixed. But then Alex was kissing him back, and god, it just felt so right.

Figuring things out at first hadn’t exactly been easy. It was only when they stopped trying to figure things out and just let it be what it was that everything seemed to fall into place. They’d kept it just to themselves for a while. But they had to tell Abuela. Her reaction was… not what they’d expected. Apparently she’d been waiting for this to happen since they were kids. And after Jaiden “broke” into Phoenix’s apartment at three am to find them making out on the couch, they’d stopped trying to hide it.

After everything that had happened, Phoenix wanted to make sure that nobody was spending Christmas alone. His parents had been planning on coming home for a week or two then- but given that they’d had two major attacks so close together, they were reluctant to, and so were spending Christmas in Australia. Phoenix was oddly conflicted about the whole thing, but didn’t let himself dwell on it. It meant that he didn’t have any commitments and could do something good.

After the chaos that had been Friendsgiving, Phoenix should have been reluctant to invite that many people over again. But after what he felt was careful planning, he was convinced that he would have totally been able to handle it. It took Alex talking him out of it and Abuela offering up her house before he agreed that maybe the apartment was a little small. And he invited people who didn’t have family in town, or who didn’t get along with their family, over to Abuela’s for Christmas dinner, complete with Secret Santa. In return, he just asked people to bring a side, a dessert, or board games for after dinner.

He spent the entirety of Christmas Eve finishing up the last few things he needed to do. It was different to every other Christmas, but not in a bad way. It felt good to be doing something, something that would put smiles on everyone else’s face, and that was what mattered. At half one in the morning, Alex finally convinced him to go to bed.

And even still, Phoenix naturally woke up early. The sun was only starting to rise, the soft light filling the bedroom. Alex still seemed to be asleep, so Phoenix quietly slid out of bed and went to the kitchen. It was still a little strange, having someone else living in the apartment with him. Not strange in a bad way, but just in a way that struck him every now and when he had the place to himself. The apartment seemed smaller, but cosier, feeling more like there was constant life in it. Maybe it was the stones and feathers and other odds and ends that Alex appeared home with that were now scattered over the apartment, or the way that things were just never left in the same way that they had been when he was living alone. And he wouldn’t have changed any of it.

The coffee brewed and a selection of pastries piled on to a plate, he made his way back into the bedroom and put a mug of coffee down on Alex’s bedside table. “Morning, asshole,” he called with a grin. He sat cross-legged on the bed beside Alex, his own mug of coffee in his hands. “Merry Christmas.”

Nothing had quite been the same since that night in her house. Nothing had happened that night- Kay had plopped herself down beside Kay and Trav and they’d chatted until Kay started to fall asleep. But Rosie had texted Travis the following morning after he’d left to ask him for dinner.

They’d gone for dinner a few times, gone for coffee a few times, but things never seemed to quite work out. She’d kissed him after their second time going for dinner, but it had been interrupted by her phone ringing. And things like that kept happening. Rosie didn’t mind. She liked just going for dinner or grabbing coffee or going for a walk together.

But after the attack, she’d also taken on a more proactive role in defending the town. Well, specifically, in protecting her students. They were taking it in turns to walk or drive some of the younger students home, as well as any of the older students who lived a little further away. When some of her students wanted to learn self-defence, she agreed, on the condition that it was only to be used if they had no other choice. The most recent attack had been bigger, more aggressive, more damaging, and just telling the kids to run and hide wasn’t going to be enough before long. They had to learn to fight back.

She’d been surprised when she’d gotten word from Phoenix, inviting her around for Christmas. Then he had explained what he was doing and that he didn’t want anybody to feel alone, and she’d gladly agreed. She hadn’t been all that surprised to find out that he and Alex were together. She’d felt sorry for Kay, of course, but she could remember what the two of them had been like in high school. She was only surprised that it had taken this long.

It was nice to sleep in for once. Even still, she woke up relatively early, stretching and yawning. Travis was coming around to hers first and they were going to Alex’s abuela’s place together. She reached for her phone and sent him a text, before having a quick shower and getting dressed.

To: Travis
Merry Christmas! Christmas breakfast at my place?

Hayden had completely lost track of his days over the past few weeks. He’d known that it was close to Christmas, of course, but he hadn’t realised exactly how close it was until he woke up Christmas morning, went out in search of breakfast, and found everywhere closed. It was only then it sank in what day it was.

Something in him had been urging him to try and find this town for a while now. He’d driven all over BC, it felt, before finding himself in the tiny town the day before. He’d arrived into town, and that constant driving urge finally settled, something in him releasing a contented sigh of “here.” He didn’t know why he was here, or what he was supposed to do, but something told him that it was going to be here for more than a few days.

He’d asked the day before if there were any elves in town, anyone like him. The owner of the B&B had shook her head, before going “Oh, wait, we have a half-elf. Her name’s Kaylessa Valven.” They’d written down her address for him. He didn’t know whether or not he should visit, given that it was Christmas Day. But he didn’t have anything better to do, and he figured that if she seemed busy, he could claim to just be stopping by.

But even as he reached her front door, he reconsidered. Maybe tomorrow would be a better time, maybe she had plans today or just wouldn’t want to see anyone. But before he could knock, the door opened, and he was confronted with a young woman, probably about his age, with long dark hair, and big blue eyes. "Uh, hi, sorry, are you... Kaylessa? Sorry, it's just someone told me you're the only other elf- well, half elf in town, and, well, I'm an elf so I thought I should... come say hi. I'm Hayden, by the way. Oh, sorry, are you just heading out? I can... come back?" He rambled.

Phoenix just smirked as Alex swore at him in response to his greeting. It had only been a couple of weeks, but it hadn’t taken long to get used to it. Then again, he’d gotten the same response any time Alex had passed out on his couch for whatever reason as they were growing up, so he couldn’t say he wasn’t used to it. The same went for Alex practically inhaling the pastry, making Phoenix raise an eyebrow and his smirk widen a little.

Phoenix raised his eyebrows as Alex brought up the present again. He’d been getting this for a while now. Or else Alex would talk about how amazing the present he’d gotten for Phoenix was and try and bait Phoenix into giving away some of the details. In all honesty, trying to find a suitably nice present had been hard. It didn’t help that he was limited to the few shops in Greythorne itself and online shopping. But he’d wanted to find something special after everything they’d been through.

“Okay fine, whatever, you can have it if it’ll shut you up,” Phoenix said melodramatically, putting his coffee back on the bedside table and getting up, going and retrieving the small box from under the tree, before going back into the bedroom and climbing back into bed, pulling the covers back up. “Here.”

He’d found it by chance. He’d been looking in the antique store for something else entirely, but he’d spotted this instead. A small, simple, gold pocket watch. It was in need of a good clean and was perhaps a little plain for some, but it was perfect. Phoenix had brought it to the jewelers to get it cleaned up, and to get a few symbols engraved into it. A sigil for protection on the front and back, as well as Alex’s initials.

“You always like shiny things,” he said by way of explanation with a small shrug, while trying to gauge Alex’s reaction.

Rosie grinned at Travis’ response to the text, starting to make up the pancake batter. She honestly hadn’t known what to get Travis for Christmas. She wanted to get something nice, something… different. She didn’t have a whole lot of time to go shopping, but the idea struck her late one night as she listened to some of her records while grading papers

She’d just retrieved the first batch from the pan when there was a knock at the door. She went to let him in and beamed at him as he stepped inside. “Thank you!” She called as they went into the sitting room. She raised an eyebrow at the small box, but eagerly tore open the paper.

“Oh my god, I love it! It’s so pretty!” She gushed, pulling it out of the box and putting it on. It was a little bit quirky too, which just made her love it more. “Hold on, I’ll get you your pancakes and your present,” she said, going back out to the kitchen and plating up some pancakes for both of them, and retrieving the present from where she had it left beside her small Christmas tree.

“It took a bit of work because nobody really… does this any more, or they do it differently. But when I was growing up, if you really liked somebody… you made them a mixtape,” she said, handing him the box. “I figured you probably don’t still have a cassette player, so I got you one of those too. Don’t listen to it now. You listen to mixtapes when you get home and when you can really appreciate it,” she said with a grin.

The energy he got from the young woman across from him was immediately positive. She didn’t seem fazed by his presence at all, already chatting away and inviting him in, asking him to take off his shoes as he did so. The house was warm and cozy and made him feel immediately at home, as did his energetic host.

He glanced at the photo she handed him, of the beautiful woman and the pretty young girl in it. He couldn’t say he recognized the woman, but his village had been small and an entire ocean away. Frankly, he would have been more surprised if he had recognized her.

Even though Kay kept asking him questions, she wasn’t giving him much of a chance to answer. He found her enthusiasm endearing though, and he found himself smiling. He’d taken his life for granted, growing up around people who respected him and almost revered him. He couldn’t imagine not knowing other people like him.

She seemed to suddenly remember something and shot to her feet, darting across the room to a trunk. He wasn’t sure what to expect, but the book she handed him wasn’t it. He untied the piece of twine and began to examine the book, before she revealed that her mother had been exiled and that the other elves who had passed through had ignored her and her questions. There were some elves like that, who believed their bloodline was sacred, that there should never be any interbreeding because they were above the humans. Hayden didn’t know all that much about the humans, but from what he had seen, cutting themselves off seemed like a foolish decision. And kicking people out for falling in love seemed even more so.

“It’s completely understandable. Our people, well, they’re not always the most open-minded. But that mindset is becoming outdated. The elf blood matters just as much as the human blood,” he said with a smile. “So, I can’t answer most of your questions, because as you can probably tell, I’m not really from around here, so whatever tribe or village your mother came from could have done things differently. There’s a lot of… differences, depending on where they are. See, we didn’t grow up entirely separate from humans, we just grew up around humans who knew to stay away from magic and who knew not to piss off magic users,” he joked. “But there are some who are very closed off, who don’t like the humans at all. I’d say they were some of those that passed through.” He turned his attention back to the book. He recognized some of the symbols on the front- they were the same runes and sigils that ran along his arms. He opened the book and flicked through the pages. He didn’t immediately understand a lot of it, but there was power in this book. It was old, old enough that he wasn’t sure how much of it he’d be able to work out without help, but he could feel the power just by holding it.

“Thank you, Kay. I’m afraid I… kind of forgot it was Christmas, otherwise I would have come with something for you too.” He admitted, closing the book and putting it to one side. “So tell me, what do you want to know? I don’t have a gift but I do have stories.”

It didn’t take Zada long to find and scoop the dead bird up from the ground. Its red feathers were a tragic, but beautiful, contrast to the snow. Then she put it in a large zippered freezer bag, and wrapped that nicely in a gift bag, complete with beautiful tissue paper and curled ribbon. That would do. Zada then finished getting ready, applying a deep red lipstick to her lips and putting on her coat. The last step before heading out was grabbing the baklava she’d made for the event. Phoenix had asked everyone to bring something and, honestly, you couldn’t have too many sweets at a Christmas party. She also just, really loved baklava.

She took the walk to Maria Garcia’s house at a leisurely pace: she’d left in plenty of time, and there was no way she would be late. She enjoyed seeing the town in winter, even if the beautiful cover of snow came at the price of a frozen lake.

When she arrived at the house, everyone was just standing in a group outside. Zada was a little confused, and shot Rosie a quick ‘what’s going on?’ look, but didn’t bother trying the door. If everyone was grouped outside like this, there must be a reason. She noted the newcomer in the group, but didn’t make a move to introduce herself. She did, however, greet Kay warmly. It wasn’t long before Neden arrived with a… Comically large bag slung over their shoulder, and it was they that ushered them all inside. The first thing Zada did when she stepped through the door was look for Alex, and when she found him, she said, “Was there a reason we had to wait out in the cold until everyone arrived?”

Alex just stared at her, as if he didn’t have a good answer to her question, and then stood up and attempted to take the baking dish from her, “Here, I can-” Zada didn’t let it go, but instead held tighter to her dish, “I’ve got it.” Alex started to direct her to the kitchen, which she ignored. She knew where it was, she was in Maria’s book club. She went and put her dish with the rest of whatever else was there. All presumably made by Phoenix. She couldn’t help but smile at it all, it really was incredibly kind, and made the town feel more like home, and her friends feel more like family.

She took off her coat and settled down in a chair just in time to listen to Neden’s little speech about presents, and the hats. Zada had no intention of wearing one, and even upon Neden’s insistence that she put it on, just stared blankly at them. She watched as everyone put their own hats on, some with more reluctance than others, and sighed. There was really no harm in wearing the hat, so she carefully perched it on her head, as if to try not to mess up her hair. Still, the whole thing was… Charming, and she couldn’t help the ghost of a smile that appeared on her face.

She’d never had a Christmas that involved this much gift giving (the years she even celebrated had been more private affairs), and the whole thing really was pleasant. Though she wasn’t entirely sure what to think of some of her gifts, she still gave Neden a small smile, “Thank you, these are lovely.” She decided to go ahead and put the necklace on, even as she thanked Neden for the gifts, partially because the color made her look a bit more festive, and partly to show that she did genuinely like at least one portion of her gift.

After Neden was done, Zada picked up the gift she’d brought, and held it out to Alex, but made no move to take it to him. After a short moment, and a confused look, he stood up and took the present from her. He moved slowly, as if he were expecting her to jump up and bite his head off at any moment. He took the gift back to his seat to open it, shooting Phoenix a wary glance as he sat down. “I drew your name. It made me think of you.” Zada didn’t know what reaction to expect from Alex opening the gift, but pure elation hadn’t been it. She had to admit, though, she was kind of glad he liked the bird.

When Phoenix said Alex could finally have his gift, a wide-and goofy-grin spread across Alex’s face. He loved getting presents, and this was no exception. He set his coffee precariously on the bed, grabbed the present, opened it up quickly, and turned the pocketwatch over in his hands a few times; looking it over. He nodded at Phoenix’s explanation-he had always liked shiny things. He opened it up to look at the face, before shutting it back and looking up at Phoenix, a smile on his face, “This is great.” He figured he could carry it at work: he often had to dress up a little more than he would like, and couldn’t wear all of his amulets and other paraphernalia as easily, and he often felt he needed all the protection he could, working with the dead. He leaned over and kissed Phoenix on the cheek, “I’m gonna break this thing, though, I want you to know that. There’s no way I won’t.” Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, “Thank you. I love it.” He picked up his cup and took a long drink of his coffee, “You can’t have your present yet, though. I don’t have it. I’ll give it to you at the party.”

He’d had to keep it at Abuela’s, because otherwise he would get excited and give it to Phoenix early, and then he’d have nothing to give on Christmas, and that would be a disaster. They spent a short amount of time talking and drinking their coffee before they had to get going. They wanted to make sure they were there before the others so they could get things set up. Alex also wanted to make sure he had the gifts he was bringing squared away: one for Jaiden (that she was going to love), and one for Travis, who he’d drawn for the secret santa exchange. He’d had a little bit of trouble with that one: he hadn’t known Travis for an excessively long time, and admittedly mostly talked about himself (and the town) when he saw the man. It was probably fine, though. He’d finally decided on giving Travis something he’d found in the woods, which was where he generally went for his gift ideas.

Soon enough they were headed to Abuela’s house, with more foods and baked goods than Alex thought necessary. “What was the point,” He said as they walked, “In asking everyone to bring something, if you were just going to make all of this, anyway?” He wasn’t upset, in fact he found it amusing. He knew that Phoenix just wanted everything to be nice for everyone, but he thought that Phoenix tended to do too much, and stress himself out.

In Abuela’s house, all the pictures of Phoenix were back up, plus new ones that Alex didn’t even know she had. If you didn’t know better, walking into the house, you might just think that Phoenix was her grandchild, and not Alex. Alex couldn’t help but chuckle, “You’re definitely her favorite…” The two spent a little time getting things set up and ready before Alex excused himself to go get Phoenix’s present from its hiding place; and evidently missed the first knock on the door. Everyone made their way inside just as Alex was sitting down to wait for them to arrive. Zada asked him why he’d made them all wait outside, and Alex didn’t know what to say to that. He was a little confused, and he was certainly scared of Zada, so instead he sort of just ignored the question off and tried to help her with the dish she’d brought, but she brushed him off and went to drop it off herself.

He stood still for a moment, face blank as if processing what had just happened. He’d never known how to take Zada, and this was no exception. Soon enough, though, he turned to the others with a charming smile, “I didn’t hear you knock, I didn’t leave you outside on purpose. The door wasn’t locked, though, you could’ve come in at any time.” He noticed the elf accompanying Kay pretty quickly and offered a warm smile, “I’m Alex. This is… Well...” He paused for a second, not entirely sure how to describe the house, “My grandparent’s house. Welcome.”

It wasn’t long before Neden was ushering them all into the living room passing out hats and talking about gifts. They’d gotten everyone something? Alex put on the hat happily enough; he had to admit that Neden had brought some real holiday cheer with them, even if it was a bit… Much. Neden announced that they could open their gifts, and Alex did. He wasn’t particularly thrilled with them, but he smiled and thanked Neden. It was a nice thought. But then, there was the last one. Now, a sword hadn’t been something Alex was expecting to get for Christmas. But when he opened it, his face lit up in a sort of childish wonder, and before he could even think about it he found himself saying, “Oh my god, this is incredible.”

Soon afterwards, Alex noticed Zada holding something out to him. He waited a second, and it became clear that he was going to have to get up and go to her. Fine. He didn’t particularly like being treated like some sort of animal or whatever she thought of him as, but he wasn’t about to argue with her, either. He was, frankly, terrified of her, and the careful way he approached, and how quickly he retreated back to Phoenix’s side made his fear pretty evident. She said the gift made her think of him, which made him even more wary, because he knew she didn’t think very highly of him. Still, he opened the bag slowly, looked inside, and grinned widely. He pulled the freezer bag up out of the wrappings and looked across the room at Zada, “Thank you! This is great… Really, I like it. I can use this.” There was nothing but sincerity in his tone; he was really, genuinely, thrilled. The look on her face dampened his enthusiasm a little. He wasn’t sure if he was meant to not like the gift, or if that was just what her face always looked like, but he decided not to dwell on it.

Alex turned to Travis, grabbing a small box and handing it to him, “I um, I want you to know that I’m about eighty percent sure this isn’t haunted.” The disclaimer came even before Travis had a chance to open up the pocket knife. Alex had only recently felt comfortable enough to go into the woods again, though never far, and nearly never alone, and he’d found it out there while he was digging around for things. He’d cleaned it up the best he could, and just hoped that Travis would like it, or at least not hate it.

Then he gave Jaiden a gift. He had been planning this particular present for some time, it took a lot of effort and time to get everything together to make it perfect. Inside was a fanny pack, since she’d liked his so much. He waited a moment for her reaction, then smiled and said, “The real present is inside.” Inside, however, was just filled to the brim with various different glitters.

He didn’t wait around for her to open it, in fact he started to walk away even as he told her to open up the fanny pack. He handed Phoenix the tell-tale red envelope of a Christmas card, wanting to make sure to give it to him quickly in case Jaiden murdered him. “Merry Christmas, Phoenix.”

The smile on Alex's face made Phoenix sigh a little in relief. He knew it was a little old fashioned, but it was still useful, and still pretty. His grin just widened as Alex leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, before admitting that he was probably going to break it. Phoenix just laughed and rolled his eyes. "Oh, trust me, I know that," he teased back. He just picked up the pillow next to him and hit Alex with it as Alex said he had to wait. "You asshole, I should have made you wait too."

They finished their breakfast, finished up the last few things for the dinner, and then started packing up the stuff to bring to Abuela's. As per usual, Phoenix had perhaps over-catered a little, especially considering that he'd asked people to bring food anyway. But, when Alex remarked on it, Phoenix just rolled his eyes. "Because if everyone showed up with sides, we'd have no dessert. And if everyone showed up with desert, we'd have no sides. And if everyone showed up with board games, we'd be totally screwed," he said. He knew that Alex probably knew, he'd probably heard Phoenix muttering to himself trying to figure out who was likely to bring what, before just giving up and deciding to cater for the worst case scenario.

Abuela's was already feeling like home again, the photos back in their proper places. Phoenix hadn't realised how many of photos of him there was until Alex pointed it out, and then he couldn't stop seeing it. He didn't even know how she'd gotten some of those photos unless she'd been on to his parents for them (which, admittedly, was not outside the realms of possibility.) He just laughed in response to Alex's comment about him being the favourite. "It's because I can make her sopapillas and you nearly burned the kitchen down when I tried to show you how," he called as he shoved up his sleeves and got to work doing the last minute prep.

He only realised that the others had arrived when he heard Neden yelling something about wanting to give them all presents, and Zada brushing past Alex with her usual distaste, saying something about him not letting them in, and Alex retorting that the door wasn't closed. A distraction soon arrived in the form of Neden handing him a hat. He grinned and pulled it on as soon as they handed it to him, before spotting a newcomer, someone that he didn't recognise and that was sticking pretty close to Kay, looking a little overwhelmed by the whole situation. "I'm Phoenix, nice to meet you," he said. Alex had rolled his eyes when Phoenix had said he was going to presume that more people than were invited were going to show up, and he'd been right. But he didn't mind. It was nice to see the excitement in Kay's face as she introduced him to people.

He took the small pile of presents from Neden with excitement and attempted to balance the flower crown on top of his christmas hat. That would have been more than enough- and then Neden handed him and Alex "matching presents." He gasped with delight at the sword, looking over to Alex in excitement. "Holy shit, this is so cool!" He gushed.

He just shrugged a little in response to Alex's look as Zada handed over her present to him. She hadn't been asking Phoenix anything about ideas for Alex, so it was much of a surprise to him as it was to Alex. Upon seeing the dead bird, Phoenix shot a look of confusion at Zada. But, of course, Alex loved it, and Phoenix just grinned to himself and shook his head.

"Maybe- before you open that-" Phoenix said, spotting that Alex had handed Jaiden her present. Once the glitter got everywhere, there would be no dragging Jaiden back. "Here. I hope you like it, I... really didn't know what else to get you," He said, handing Jaiden a flat, heavy object. He'd been pestering Alex for ages, trying to get him to help him to come up with an idea, but Alex had initially suggested the fanny pack as her secret santa present, so he'd stopped asking after that. He knew that she'd been having a rough time of it over the past few months, and knew that they probably hadn't helped things by her finding out about them the way they did. So he'd put hours into the scrapbook instead- handwriting some of her favourite lyrics into it, writing out her favourite recipes so she could make them herself, pressing some of her favourite flowers, and finding every single photo they had together over the course of their friendship, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the blurry, and sticking them in to it. "I left some room at the back so you can add more to it if you want."

Alex left to go retrieve Phoenix's present at last- or maybe just to escape Jaiden's wrath. But he was back quicker than expected, handing Phoenix an envelope. Phoenix raised an eyebrow as he began to tear it open. "If this is an IOU I swear to god I'm break..." he trailed off as he looked at the two tickets in the card. Two tickets to an MCR concert. When they'd started announcing dates, Phoenix had said in passing that he'd been so pissed off when his parents didn't let him go when he was a teenager, but that they probably had a point. He would have been a liability, he would have given them all away. Alex hadn't really said anything, but Phoenix had just presumed it was because he'd heard enough of the complaining at the time.

"Holy fuck-" was all he could get out, just staring at them. This... this wasn't even a "local" venue, this was at least a few hours of a drive away. It was probably almost a day of a drive away, if not more. "Thank you so so much-" he managed to get out, wrapping Alex in the tightest hug he could muster.

Rosie grinned at Trav's reaction. She'd wondered if it was a little bit cringeworthy, if he would even like something like that, so she was glad when his reaction was genuine. They spent the morning together as Rosie made her mom's stuffing to bring to Phoenix's, as she figured most other people would probably be bringing desserts. It was nice, just relaxing with somebody like this, doing their own thing as they kept each other company. She knew that the dinner was bound to be a little chaotic, but honestly, she was looking forward to it.

They left together, Rosie carrying her baking dish and her presents, having given the bag of drinks she'd also decided to bring to Travis to carry. They met Kay outside, and she awkwardly returned her hug as best she could while balancing the dish in her hands. There was a guy, about Kay's age, standing beside her, and Rosie was pretty sure she hadn't seen him around town before. He'd certainly never been in any of her classes. But Kay answered that question by introducing him. "I'm Rosie," she said, also shaking his hand. "We don't get many elves around these parts besides our Kay here, so it's lovely to meet you!" She said. Travis made a comment about them all being weird, and Rosie batted for his arm. She spotted Zada arriving, who shot her a quizzical look. Rosie shrugged a little, before Neden arrived and led them all into the house.

The scene that ensued was chaos. Neden had, of course, brought presents for everyone, but especially Rosie. She beamed with delight at her presents. "Neden, these are amazing, thank you so much!" She gushed, standing up to hug the angel. The rest of their presents made Rosie watch with interest. The swords were... an interesting choice, and she made a mental note to make a bet with Neden later to see how long they could go without injuring themselves with them.

Zada's present to Alex, and more accurately, their reactions to it made Rosie laugh. She stood up and passed a small bag to Zada. "Happy Christmas, babe. It's no dead bird, but..." she said with a teasing grin. She'd gotten Zada a bottle of their favourite red wine, a selection of slightly obscure but interesting-sounding novels, and a hair comb she'd found entirely by chance.

They spent a while talking, Hayden explaining things to Kay, telling her that he was a healer too. He didn't know why, but he decided against telling her that he was a druid. Maybe it was because he presumed she wouldn't know what it was- or maybe it was because he was afraid she would. He didn't mind it, never had minded the respect his position had earned him, but he liked just being normal for a while.

He had intended on excusing himself when Kay said she was going to meet with her friends- but instead, she asked him to come along. So he went, curious to see more of the town and to see what the other people were like. Upon shaking hands with Kay's two friends- Rosie and Travis- Hayden got two very clear cut impressions. A good one of Rosie- warmth, energy, authenticity. But there was something... off about Travis. Hayden's polite smile slipped for just a moment as he tried to figure out what it was, but then he fixed it back on as if nothing was wrong. He laughed a little as Travis said the people were a little out there- but it didn't take long for Hayden to realise that he wasn't lying.

Inside the house was chaos to say the least. One person was handing out presents left right and centre, and even had some for Hayden. Nobody seemed terribly surprised or upset to see him there, which was nice, making him feel included almost right away. Hayden opened the presents to find a deep green crystal necklace, a book of poetry, and an denim jacket that looked like it would just fit him. Considering that they hadn't known he was coming, he was extremely happy with those presents, and was glad to be engulfed in the chaos of the party. There were, however, a few things he still didn't understand, like why the dark, vaguely threatening woman gave one of the guys- Alex, he had said his name was- a dead bird, and why Alex had seemed so happy about it. The blonde one- Phoenix, wasn't it?- had jumped up to hug Alex and appeared to be fighting back tears. After a few minutes like that, he gathered himself to excuse himself and go finish the cooking.

Hayden laughed a little and leaned in to Kay. "So do you want to tell me a little about all of these people?" He asked with a grin.