Upon Vestia: Chapter Nine

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Thaila winced, "I...uhm dont remember much but that maaay of been me." He said sheepishly, "Sorry.."

"The stories are just the worst. There's always an alien invasion, except when it's a robot invasion instead. And we make fun of the Humanists who think aliens can be redeemed, because to be fair, their beliefs are so weird." She laughed softly, "And the brave humans never really prevail, but they're valiant and noble and stuff, so they keep running away. Yeah, I dunno."

Thaila narrowed his eyes at Matt mug ans causa stood walking over with this arch eyebrow.

"Well, the boss still celebrated Christmas, even if it was his own version of it. We did learn the stories. I can tell it to everyone after dinner if you want. The best thing was always the exchange of presents to everyone and just being together like a family." Shane said thoughtfully. "It was one day out of the year that there wasn't a boss and employees, just a gathering together."

"That sounds nice." Matt told Shane, eying Thalia with a childish smirk as he held the cup well above him. "Mine." He told him.

[You don't think we can be redeemed?] Kay asked Ellie.

Shane nodded then pushed those memories back and went to Ellie to take some of the decorations "Where are we decorating?"

Skye and Moone came closer to the others as they talked. That doesn't sound like much of a celebration for everyone." Moone said, looking to Ellie then going up to her to hug her "I'm glad you don't think like those stories."

"Dont you make ear jerk you." Thaila remarked, "What is it?"

Matt didn't let him have the mug. "It's mine is what it is." He poked his tongue out and took a sip. "A big get together sounds like fun though, we should totally do that. Maybe swap winter festival stories, see who's got the most messed up holiday" He laughed.

Kay rolled his eyes.

"Is it coffee?" Thaila asked directly, the last few days he been trying to control his lover coffee intact with mix results.

Matt shrugged. "If I say yes you'll start nagging me, and if I say no you won't believe me and nag me anyway, so i'm opting to just say nothing." He snickered, but there was a certain degree of annoyance in his tone despite his smile. He really was only doing this because he objected to being told what to do. As soon as Thalia stopped making a fuss he'd stop messing with him, but neither of them would back down so this was getting silly.

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:"That sounds nice." Matt told Shane, eying Thalia with a childish smirk as he held the cup well above him. "Mine." He told him.

[You don't think we can be redeemed?] Kay asked Ellie.

"Since their idea of 'redemption' is the aliens accepting human superiority and acting as lowly monks in hopes of being reborn in a human body in their next life, I have my doubts," Ellie said with a shrug. She smiled at Moone, "Nah, kid, definitely not fun, especially here. This is the season for putting aside differences, so no way am I gonna go all Humanist on you guys."
"There are some decorations in the supply closets!" she said, "Follow me!"

flying_purple_monkfish wrote:Matt shrugged. "If I say yes you'll start nagging me, and if I say no you won't believe me and nag me anyway, so i'm opting to just say nothing." He snickered, but there was a certain degree of annoyance in his tone despite his smile. He really was only doing this because he objected to being told what to do. As soon as Thalia stopped making a fuss he'd stop messing with him, but neither of them would back down so this was getting silly.

Thaila snorted irritably and muttered something in Minotaurian before heading to leave the room with his blook in tow.

Matt sighed. "I'll catch up." He told the others and went to follow Thalia. Yeah, they had to talk about this.

Kay frowned, but decided it was none of his business and followed Ellie instead. Decorating sounded like a decent distraction.

Ellie didn't get why anyone would decide to start dating. It was adorable at first, but it always ended up with both sides compromising and resenting each other for it. Sooo not worth it, geez. She lead the way to the storage closets, mourning for the good old days, and hiding it by adjusting her tinsel.

Kay patted her on the shoulder, yeah it was awkward watching his brother and Thalia fight over stupid shit right? This was why public relationships were a pain, no matter what you did, everyone ended up involved in any minor dispute and it sucked.

Skye, Moone and Shane followed Ellie to the storage area to get the decorations. No matter what they called this, it would be a fun get together for them all now.

Ellie smiled at Kay, albeit a bit halfheartedly. Oh yeah, he and Asher were totally broken up too. Of course, Asher was an unbelievable jerk, so Kay was probably even more unhappy that Matt and Thalia. Man, Kay was such a stoic, he hardly looked heartbroken at all right now.
Ellie started pulling out boxes of ornaments and tinsel.

Thaila headed towards ond of his favorite spots to read, admittedly bitting his tongue from saying something he'll regret.

"Thalia!" Matt jogged to catch up, careful with his mug.

---

Kay helped with the boxes, looking at the ornaments in facination. What on earth did sparkles and coloured balls have to do with winter?

He looked at him, "Yes?" He kept a netural tone.

Ellie looked at Kay curiously. "You look confused. What's up?"

[I have no idea what any of this stuff is.] He told her, smiling a little.

--

"Can we just stop all.. this?" Matt gestured vaguely, coming closer and showing him the mug "It's just hot water man, chill. " He sighed. "I don't even like coffee." He admitted. "I just.. really resent being told what I can and cannot do. "

Ellie blinked. "You don't decorate for the season where you come from?" she asked. "In a lot of places, it's traditional to make everything all pretty and sparkly, to make the winter celebrations more festive. Puts everyone in a good mood, and reminds them the bitter cold won't last forever, you know?"

Thaila closed his eyes, "Matt, I just dont want to loose you to something thay could be prevented okay..?" He admitted softly.

Kay shook his head. [Not really. Longest night, we prepare by making sure we have everything we need in the house, enough firewood, enough gas for the lamps, enough food and water. There's no time for decorating. When the sun sets, the shutters are closed, the doors barred and you huddle around the fire, telling stories in the dark and hoping you survive till sunrise. Nobody goes anywhere on longest night, the villages are locked down, nobody works and nothing opens. If you make it through the night, well, things can only get better from that point. The following day is new year, life starts again. But there's no decorating, there's too much work to be done.]

---

"Thalia... It's not just the coffee and that stupid crap, it's.. in general. I know you think it's caring to worry about me and nag me about it all the time, but trying to stop me doing something it's.. it's not fair on me okay? " Matt set the mug down, sighing deeply. "I'm not stupid and I don't have a death wish. Believe it or not I do actually know my limits and I don't do stupid crap just to be annoying. I do it because I NEED to be irresponsible and stupid for a bit. I've spent my whole life looking after other people, sometimes I just.. need a little time to cut loose and not be responsible for anything."

Shane, Moone and Skye helped to hold the boxes also, listening to Ellie and reading what Kay wrote

"That sounds depressing," Ellie said. "You'll like this more cheerful sort of holiday, I bet. It's fun. There's chocolate." She paused, "Can your species eat chocolate stuff?"

Kay frowned. [I have no idea. it's never come up. ] He shrugged, well he could eat that cake of Heny's with no ill effect so presumably it was fine right? [And yes, it is depressing. They used to shut the station down and run a skeleton service, even though there was really no reason to do so. Tradition or something. The pilots wouldn't fly on longest night, bad luck or something. Battles were halted and we didn't get many casualties, so it was a welcome night off at least. ]