Elena Salvatore (staywhoyouare) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-01-05 14:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, beth greene, daryl dixon |
Who: Daryl Dixon & Beth Greene
When: Backdated to Novembe 28, 2014 (Black Friday)
Where: The Cellar
What: Beth helps Daryl decorate for Christmas.
Status: Completed when posted.
Beth'd never seen an upside down Christmas tree before, but she was pretty sure they -- along with Christmas lights in November and candy canes for Halloween -- were signs of the apocalypse. Okay, she wasn't that dramatic, and it did look nice to have all the good ornaments at the top of the tree. But upside down trees, really? She stared at the newly put together tree, trying to figure out who'd exactly decided this was a good idea. "Think this must be a city thing," she said, looking over at her boss. She'd only worked at the Cellar for about a month, but she'd accepted that the place had become like a second home. Either way, she didn't mind being here on her day off, especially if Christmas cookies and eggnog were involved. "Like, I've got limited space, so I need my tree to be inverted?" She leaned against one of the tables that they'd had to move to put up the tree. "Should we go for white winter wonderland ornaments, or mismatched tacky colors?" Upside Down Christmas trees were some new popular fad. For whatever crazy reason. Daryl didn't understand it. He had seen it done in stores and that he could understand but in a home? Nonetheless it was something quirky for the restaurant and he didn't hate spending the time with Beth. She was still one of his fairly new employees but he thought they both hit it off pretty well. Daryl laughed. "I think you're right. Must be," he agreed. He couldn't think of any normal person who might do this. It was just a little too weird. It fit the description of a crazy city fad. "This has to be the weirdest tree idea I've ever seen." He looked over at Beth and back to the tree. He didn't know honestly. The whole reason he was doing this was really because of her. He was planning to set up a tree like usual of course but this was more fun. "Tacky colors. Let's go all out," he grinned. He poured two glasses of egg nog, adding Southern Comfort to his. It wasn't truly egg nog without it. Daryl moved over to where Beth was leaning and offered her a glass. "Here you go. Can't decorate a tree without egg nog." It was one of those long standing traditions in his family. She took the egg nog from him, grinning. "I'd say you can't decorate a tree without cocoa, but egg nog works, too. Thank you." They were going to have the weirdest tree on the block, but that didn't really matter. This was fun, a lot more fun than baking or working together. She was pretty sure he had done most of the baking for Thanksgiving, anyway. All she'd really done was stir together some pumpkin and spices. "Alright. So, tacky colors…" She set down her eggnog and turned to the stack of decorations on the table. Luckily, the tree had come pre-lit, or she'd never have been able to figure out how to string lights on that thing. She pulled out a box of spirals, balls, and bows, all of which were in ugly shades of fuschia, teal, and green. Whoever had made this business decision had seriously missed the meaning of Christmas, but maybe that was the point. "Nothing screams Christmas like fuschia, right?" She looked over at him. "I mean, we could put a real tree, too. I don't want people to think this place is unconventional, or anything." "The benefits to being in a restaurant. I can whip that up too," he told her. "I bet you could even heat up the milk without burning it." It should be clear from the grin on his face that his remark was not meant maliciously. Daryl had found that Beth had a decent sense of humor and could handle his teasing comments about her cooking abilities. He watched Beth as she pulled out the ornaments. "They're...interesting. Our upside down tree will definitely capture the customers attention." Daryl grabbed an ornament from the box and a hook but turned to her to wait. "You do the honors. This was your idea after all." He nodded at her suggestion. "Two trees just means we're twice as festive." Doing two trees wasn't a problem. Even if one of them was hanging down from the restaurant ceiling as they spoke. "We can definitely put up a second." Beth just smiled. "You never know. I could be a cocoa masterchef." She was teasing him. She wasn't really sure at what point their relationship had become a sort of friendship, or if that was even appropriate in a professional setting. But she supposed the restaurant wasn't an office, and besides, it was nice to have friends at work. "But the eggnog's fine. It can be a new tradition." Picking out one of the ornaments, one of the shiny teal spirals, she hung it on the tree. The teal didn't clash as badly with the evergreen color of the tree as she thought it might have. It actually looked kind of nice. "You know, we don't have to do this just because I wanted to. It is your restaurant, and I'm pretty sure you're the one who mentioned upside down trees first." It wasn't so much that Beth didn't want to decorate for Christmas, or that she didn't want to decorate for Christmas with him. She just didn't want him to feel obligated to spend time with her. She wasn't fragile. "I'm just saying - you have full veto power. I know I can get a little carried away with… Christmas." Daryl gave her a teasing look that said he clearly did not believe her. She was getting there though. Cooking was an acquired skill. It just so happened that he’s been interested in cooking since her was quite young hence why it came quite naturally to him. The more practice she had he knew she’d get better. “I’d love to put that theory to the test,” he grinned. “New traditions are always good.” He thought back to their conversation about upside down Christmas trees and she was right. He was the one who mentioned them first. “I have to decorate for the holiday season anyway. We might as well have a little fun with it.” Somehow between the two of them they had come up with this idea for an upside down Christmas tree. It sounded like a fun idea and he figured decorating with Beth would prove to be fun too. Since Daryl had met his newest employee he couldn’t shake this feeling of familiarity with her. It was as if they’d known each other for years and Daryl was a friendly sort. It was an easy jump from the employer-employee relationship to that of friendship. At least it was for him. He knew which employees he could have a good time with and which needed a more structured relationship or they’d push boundaries. And in a little more than a month Beth had proved herself to be one of those employees he could joke around with. Daryl liked to have fun at work and he believed a happy staff was far better for business. “I don’t mind getting carried away. It’s the perfect time of year for it,” Daryl answered. One could never have too much holiday cheer. In fact most people he came in contact didn’t have enough. “Go big or go home,” he added with a smile at her. "Oh." She returned his smile, trying not to think about how natural this felt. And maybe that was what scared her the most. It wasn't how easily she had become friends with his boss, or how taken she had been with his niece and nephew. But how it all felt like a continuation of something that she couldn't quite pinpoint, that lingered in the back of her mind like all of those awful dreams about zombies and her mom. It wasn't like Beth to dwell on the darkness, though. She was a creature of the light, and well, Christmas was pretty much the epitome of the light --- and her favorite holiday. "Well, if we're getting carried away, I think we might need to get this tree done, and maybe throw up some bows… Oh, and mistletoe." She surveyed the size of the restaurant. "We'll definitely need some mistletoe. It's not Christmas without it." She decorated as she talked, picking up various spirals and bows and little boxes and hanging them off the tree branches accordingly. The upside down tree was designed to hold the better ornaments at the top, but she didn't discriminate against the bottom of the tree, either. Instead, she placed the ornaments in a measured system around the tree, allowing it to be evenly decorated from top to bottom. “I like the way you think. Definitely need some bows and mistletoe is a tradition. I bet there’s some other…” Daryl trailed off, mumbling. He left the room and headed into the back while she continued decorating. Beth could probably hear some digging around, maybe a box or two falling. But finally he returned to the main part of the restaurant carrying a box of some holiday things. “I thought there might be some other things here,” he told her, putting the box down on the table. He wasn’t entirely sure what was in there but he figured his parents had some good stuff in there. Stuff that was worth checking out. “Forgot we had this stuff. I probably should organize some of the things in the back,” he mused out loud. |