Lem Collier (littlelem) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-07-05 18:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | #december 2017, lem, lem x nic, nic |
Who: Nic and Lem
When: afternoon, Monday, Dec 25th
Where: the Castell house
Status: complete
Christmas didn’t mean much to Lem. She’d been raised with it, and kids always loved getting presents and cookies, so that was always fun, but it had eventually came to mean torturously forced family time and stress, and then depressing fakery in the mental institution. They always tried to make a big deal out of it, but it was just sad, everyone sitting around opening their extra-nice toothbrushes and apples and new slippers and shit. She didn’t believe in the Christian God anymore -- she’d seen the truth and it was so much more complicated and bizarre.
But, this year felt kind of different. Lem had people now, and that made her more inclined to celebrate. She and Vex hadn’t put up a tree or any decorations, but they’d exchanged gifts that morning, and had eaten a breakfast of frosted Christmas cookies from the store. He’d gotten her a badass crossbow, and she’d given him a really awesome jacket she’d found at the thrift store. She’d gotten Nic something too, and had been checking out the window all day for the Castells’ cars to return to the driveway. When they finally came back, presumably from family obligations, Lem got bundled up and grabbed Nic’s present and hurried out the door. She hopped up the stairs, the cold already making her nose red, and knocked on the door, finding herself kind of excited.
The morning had been long, as all time spent with his family felt, though it didn't seem to matter if it was one hour or four. It always felt like something he had to get through, two strangers hanging out with two younger strangers with only their past in common, rather than their present. His father seemed to be coming around, which was a step in the right direction, but his mother still struggled with the decisions of her children, as if that was a reflection on her. Nic hoped that one day she'd realize they were happy with their lives and be happy for them, but that day had yet to come. By mid-afternoon, they were all ready to be back in their own space, so Nic and Zania headed back home with the both of them looking forward to seeing their significant others. There were only two people that were expected to knock on the door that day and Nic hurried to answer it, hoping this time it would be for him.
Nic had been extremely indecisive on what to get Lem, jumping all over the place from one idea to the next. He'd considered a steampunk type holster, but wasn't sure she ever carried a gun outside her encounter with a werewolf and he didn't want to remind her of that. He'd looked at jewelry, but everything he found seemed like a big commitment type piece or something she wouldn't wear. He even considered a lamp shaped like a skeleton, with a lampshade for a head. Finally he'd come upon something he thought she might like and his sister had helped him make it, since she was the crafty one, at least when it came to real, concrete things. Nic didn't want to give Lem something that would fade into nothingness. She'd certainly gotten him something solid, as evidenced by the package she was carrying. "Merry Christmas," he grinned, leaning in to give her a kiss before ushering her inside. "You and Vex have a good morning?"
Nic answered, which made Lem really happy. Not that she didn’t like Zan or anything, she just didn’t have a gift for her -- oops -- and Nic was really the one she was there to see. She grinned brightly and kissed him back, then bustled into the house with her package. She’d wrapped it in newspaper because that was all she had, but the flatness and squareness of it probably gave away what it might be. That was okay, Nic couldn’t see the picture through the paper, and that was what counted. “Happy Zombie Jesus Day! Oh wait, that’s Easter,” she caught herself with a little laugh. “Whatever, yes, Merry Merry. We had a good morning, yeah. It was full of cookies. How about you? How was parent-time?” As she spoke, she leaned the present up against the wall and started peeling off her winter layers to hang them up.
"I think today is Happy Miracle Baby Day," Nic grinned, shutting the door behind her. "If you're running short on cookies, let me know. We still have tons leftover from the party." If not, he'd take some of them up to the shop, a free gift to anyone who bought tea before the cookies went stale. "Parent time was... okay. It's a big holiday, so everyone's a little more prone to be in a good mood, and we're not out in public, which helps, but there's really only so much of it I can stand before I start looking for a reason to leave." Maybe that was how all adult children felt when they were stuck with their parents for an extended period of time, but Nic was pretty sure that his time limit was shorter than others. Some people could manage days while he could only handle hours.
“I would rather rip off my fingernails than hang out with my parents right now,” Lem declared matter-of-factly. She hadn’t spoken to them in months, and she didn’t feel bad about that in the slightest. They probably thought she was dead, run off with that crazy older man, but Lem didn’t care about that either. The only people she gave a shit about lived on Ludlow, these were the only people she needed. Now that she was free of all the warm bulky clothes, she bounced forward to throw her arms around Nic’s waist and hug him tight. “Glad you escaped,” she said into his chest. “Now you can open your present! Which is like, way cooler than whatever they got you, I can guarantee it.”
“Ow,” Nic laughed as he nodded in understanding. As painful as that sounded, it certainly got the point across. Lem had never talked a lot about her family, but he knew that they’d wronged her from the little bit that she’d said. His didn’t like the decisions he’d made, but backed him when it mattered, which was the reason he still came around. He’d learned long ago that family was generally a complicated mess for everyone. It was the one thing they all had in common. “I’m sure it is, though that’s setting the bar pretty low,” he grinned, hugging her back before picking up his present and carrying it into the living room. Now that the party was over, the room was much more traditional Christmas, with just a tree with colored lights sitting in the front window and a bit of garland draped across the fireplace mantel. Nic took a seat on the couch and began to rip at the paper, curious to see what it was she got him. He could tell it was some kind of artwork, but the wrapping appropriately hid the design until he pulled it free.
Lem followed along to the living room and hopped over the arm of the couch to sit next to him, tucking her legs underneath herself. She was pretty pleased with the present she’d found for him -- it was a painting, and at first glance it looked just like a suburban street at night time. But in the background behind the row of houses, long creepy shadow-people loomed against the dark sky, and some of the stars looked more like eyes. It was subtle, but the art was good and Lem had wanted it as soon as she’d seen it in the thrift store. She liked to think that somebody bought it without paying much attention and then realized why they felt unsettled every time they walked past it. “You see the world behind the world, so,” she offered Nic as an explanation, grinning at him a bit as she watched his reaction.
A slow smile spread across Nic's face as he took in the piece, his eyes darting to all the little details. It was the kind of painting that you might not notice, that could sit on the wall and look unassuming until you took a moment to really study it. In this case, the devil really was in the details. Some people might find it unsettling, but it was right up Nic's alley. "It's perfect," he grinned. "I love it. I'm gonna have to hang it in my room." He wanted it somewhere he would see it, in a space that was truly his. "Thank you," he smiled, and leaned in to give her a little kiss before rising to his feet. "Let me get you yours." He retrieved her gift from beneath the tree, one of the last remaining ones. While wrapped in holiday paper, he'd not done the best job of it, realizing too late that he should have put it in a box first. Instead, the gift was slightly squishy, threatening to rip the paper if he didn't hold it just right.
Lem was pleased as punch that Nic liked the painting -- a positive reaction to something so ‘weird’ just made her feelings for him dig their claws in a little deeper. She bounced happily on the cushion as he got up to get her present, more excited than she thought she would be. She’d never had a boyfriend on Christmas to exchange gifts with, and she thought it was going pretty damn well so far. Lem reached for the gift when Nic got back, grinning as she tore into the paper like an enthusiastic kid. Whatever it was, it was soft and in her favorite colors, so Lem loved it before she even shook it out. It was a sweater coat, seemingly knitted together from parts of other sweaters to make a patchworked stylish jacket, everything in black, purple, blue, and gray. Lem’s breath caught and her eyes widened. “Oh wow,” she murmured, drawing the word out as she looked it over. “Nic, it’s beautiful, ohmygod. Thank you!” Lem rose up on her knees to kiss him.
While he might not always seem that way, Nic liked the weird. He'd built his life around it in the same way that his sister had and couldn't imagine anything different. Fitting himself into a normal life with a normal job just seemed so horribly mundane when there was so much more out there, more than they could ever understand or even comprehend. He felt like Lem's gift captured that, the reality that only people like them saw. His gift to her wasn't nearly as thought provoking, but he could tell that she liked it from her reaction. He kissed her back, holding her close as he leaned back on the couch. "I saw this rainbow one in a store, but it was too bright. Zan said she'd make one if I picked out the sweaters. This seemed more you," he smiled. "You should try it on."
In Lem’s experience, there was no such thing as ‘normal’ anyway, and everybody who tried to tell themselves they were normal were just desperate for acceptance. She’d abandoned that need a long time ago, as much as was humanly possible. Lem was going to be herself regardless, and it had led her to the most fantastic people. Her people, who gave her purpose and connection and awesome sweater coats. Lem pulled away from his hold just long enough to swing the sweater around and pull it on, pleased that it fit slightly big, just how she liked it. She pulled the arms down over her hands and then climbed into Nic’s lap so it could drape somewhat over him too. “I love it,” she murmured with a sublime smile, then pressed a kiss against his lips. “It’s perfect. The best Franken-sweater I’ve ever had.” Lem grinned a bit.
Nic knew it would be big on her, but that was okay. It was supposed to be a bit over-sized, with the sleeves draping down over her hands and the hood covering her eyes if she pulled it up. And if she spun, the whole thing would flare up in a giant sweater circle. It made her look like a dark elf or pixie, if such things existed. "Good," Nic grinned, laying back so they were both sprawled on the couch together. The coat covered them both like a giant blanket, though it was Lem's warmth that he enjoyed. He kissed her again, savoring the moment. Christmas morning had been a bit stressful, but this was just about perfect. Lazing about with Lem was exactly how he wanted to spend his day.
Lem shifted as Nic laid back with her, draping herself over his body almost as loosely as the sweater did. He was big -- by comparison, anyway -- and comfortable, and his lips felt nice against her own. Lem didn’t think she’d had this good of a Christmas since she was a small child. She’d given and gotten gifts that were loved, she’d seen both of her favorite men and gotten to snuggle both of them guilt-free, nobody was trying to force pills down her throat or belief into her head. She could just be, and that was gift all in itself. Lem happily got absorbed in kissing her boyfriend, one hand sneaking up to stroke Nic’s cheek before getting buried in his hair. “Is Zania home?” she murmured after a moment with a wicked little grin. “Do we have to behave?”
"We don't ever have to behave," Nic grinned back at her, his hands sliding up to cup her ass. "But yeah, she's around somewhere, so if we wanna fool around, we should probably head up to my room." It was a downside of living with his sister-- or living with anyone, really-- and at some point he might get tired of it, but this was the first time in forever that they'd had to navigate around them both being in a relationship. He knew he could probably kick Zania out of the house if they just had to stay on the couch, she definitely owed him one, but it was Christmas and that didn't seem very brotherly.
If it had been over at their house with Vex home, Lem wouldn’t have cared much, but Zania was a different story. Lem didn’t want to make things weird for her in her own home. She moved her legs to straddle Nic’s pelvis some more and smirked down at him. “Do you wanna fool around?” she asked. His hand placement suggested he did, but sometimes it was just nice to hold someone’s butt. Lem was enjoying cuddling with him, but if they could do it with fewer clothes on, she definitely wouldn’t complain. She kind of wanted to feel her new sweater coat against her bare skin anyway. Maybe wrap it around both of them.
While he supposed there were instances where the answer to that might be no, Nic couldn't think of one at the moment. Instead he grinned at her, pressed a quick kiss to her lips, and tightened his hold on her so he could roll up to his feet with her still wrapped around him. "Let's go upstairs," he smiled, already beginning to head in that direction. He couldn't think of anything better than spending the rest of the day in bed with her, so that was exactly what he planned to do.