"I know we hate each other but it's Christmas Eve and your flight was cancelled please come inside" au
So I was given this prompt as a Misffle AU, but there ended up being so much great Twelve and Clara and Missy stuff in here that I had to do this instead so that anyone who loves the three of them (in any way) could read and enjoy this.
At face value, this is platonic Twisswald at Christmas, in an AU setting. There's no romance as such. But there's enough general cute that you can interpret any and all ships within the three that you like.
Enjoy!
Note: The Misffle version was still written, and can be found as the sixth AU in my In Another Life collection for anyone interested.
She was playing Taylor Swift again.
If Missy had to hear one more verse of the globe's blonde sweetheart and her sickeningly poetic lyrics, she was going to murder someone.
"Play some fucking Christmas music like a normal person!" She shouted through the wall, giving it a good pound with her fist for good measure.
Not that she was usually one to endorse normal things, but it was Christmas Eve for fuck's sake, what was the girl doing playing the same Taylor Swift album she'd been listening to the last two months on repeat?
Normally, her next door neighbour and nemesis of sorts might have replied with an explicit shout and wall bang of her own, but this time there was no reply.
That annoyed Missy further. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was being ignored.
She just barely suppressed the urge to march out of her front door to bang on the one next to it until it opened and she was able to strangle the young woman who lived inside. Instead, she went to her mobile, which had a text from her best friend confirming that he would be dropping by in the evening to crash on her couch and then spend Christmas with her.
That calmed her a little, and she smiled slightly at the thought of seeing the Doctor. Well, everyone else called him that, but he'd always be Thete to her.
Still, there was a lot to do this afternoon. Namely, baking more Christmas cookies and gingerbread men than any reasonable person could ever need. So she got to work. It was all going perfectly well until she ran out of sugar for the next batch.
A last minute run to the store it was, then.
With a large bag of sugar and an extra bottle of vodka under her arm - one could never have too much liquor at Christmas - Missy made her way back to her apartment building. And who happened to also be entering the lift but Miss Prissy Polly Puppy herself.
The odd part was the suitcase in her hand and the fact that Missy had been sure she would have been going home for the holiday, to family or some other such thing.
The moment Tiny Annoying Puppy - or Clara, as Missy vaguely remembered she was called - spotted Missy and realised she was joining her in the elevator, the shorter woman scowled.
"Great, this is all I need to make this day even better," she muttered as Missy got in and the doors shut behind her.
"Oh yeah, because starting my day off with the same fucking Taylor Swift album as the last two months was exactly what I'd wanted for Christmas Eve this year," Missy retorted, and the two of them glared at each other (as they so often ended up doing).
At least, until Missy noticed the tear tracks on the younger woman's cheeks and the red around her eyes.
"What's the matter with you?" She asked, without really knowing why she was doing so.
"What do you care?" Clara snapped.
Missy rolled her eyes. "It's a simple enough question. Sorry for trying to be civil for once, remind me to never ever ever bother again."
There was a brief pause.
"My flight got cancelled," Clara said softly, "Weather's too bad."
"Oh."
It was strange and rather unsettling for Missy to look at the woman she had spent a good six months hating with a passion only to out of nowhere feel the smallest slither of sympathy for her. (And in Missy's books, any measure of sympathy was a downright miracle in itself.)
"Look, could you not play heavy metal music kinda loud in the middle of the night? Some of us need early nights because we get up early."
"Yeah, and some of us get woken up by truly atrocious shower singing that we could really do without, funny how things tend to go both ways, short stuff."
Red cheeks. And delightfully angry chocolate eyes. "My singing? I hear you singing opera at all hours of the day!"
"I'm entitled to sing whatever I like-"
"Look, just shut up, okay? Do what you like, but for God's sake, do it a bit quieter."
It had been months of mutual glares, icy silences, bickering in the hallway, and shouting through the wall. (And, admittedly, even once or twice a phone call to Thete to rant about her neighbour from hell.)
But now Missy found herself staring at this Clara's face, her huge doe eyes red and still glistening a little, and felt something.
"That's too bad," she said, only half aware of her own words.
Clara seemed surprised, and just nodded. "Yeah," she replied, sniffing, "Bet you were looking forward to me not be around for a few whole days."
The elevator reached their floor and the doors opened with a ping. Missy went to stride out first, only to stop, cough, and politely step back to let out Clara, who was understandably a bit confused about the mild change in behaviour but went out into the corridor all the same.
They made the walk to their adjacent doors in silence.
"Do you, uh, have special plans for Christmas?" Clara asked her as they both fumbled for their keys.
"Hm?" Missy finally found her keys and shoved the right one into the lock. "Oh, yeah. My best friend is coming by, we try to spend the holiday together since neither of us have any family."
"...that's nice that you have each other, at least."
"Yeah…" Missy nodded absently, and half pushed her door open before glancing back at the neighbour she had despised for so long, who was staring at her own door with an expression that clearly said she was barely holding it together.
Well, Missy couldn't have that. She couldn't stand crying.
"Come inside," she said, out of nowhere, surprising herself almost as much as Clara. The already massive pair of eyes widened even more, though that should have been impossible.
"What?"
"You heard me," Missy told her airily, "Come. Inside."
Clara frowned. "But we hate each other."
"Yeah, I know, and usually it's wonderful, but it's Christmas and I'm not going to be able to enjoy myself if I know that there's a girl crying her lovely eyes out on the other side of my wall." Missy rolled her eyes. "So come on."
Clara tilted her head at her. "Are you complimenting me now?"
Missy narrowed her eyes at her. "Don't be ridiculous. You've done absolutely nothing to warrant any compliments from me, puppy, I'm simply stating indisputable facts. Now for the last time, get the fuck inside before I change my mind."
At that, Clara hurried past her into the apartment, pulling her suitcase with her and leaving against the wall near the entrance.
"Well, thanks, I guess," the younger woman said awkwardly, "It's Melissa, right?"
Missy followed her in and shut and locked the door behind them before heading for her kitchen. "Everyone who's anyone calls me Missy, pup, under the circumstances you might as well do the same."
Clara, without much else to do, followed her into the kitchen.
"Holy shit, you've been busy," she said as she took in the three trays of cookies already cooling on the bench, "Are you even finished?"
"Of course not, I haven't done any of the gingerbread men yet."
"I thought you just said your friend was coming over? You'll have enough to feed a small country at the rate you're going."
Missy snorted. "A small country, or one very irritating Scotsman. He always eats all my biscuits. Every year without fail. So if you're worried about food going to waste, don't be."
With that, she set about baking the first batch of gingerbread men. She was aware of the puppy's eyes on her all the while.
"Is there a particular reason you're staring at me, puppy?" Missy hadn't looked up, so she didn't know what expression was on the other woman's face, but she imagined it was one of being caught out.
"Why are you calling me that?" Clara asked instead of answering the question put to her.
"Calling you what?"
"A puppy."
"Because you are a puppy. All big brown eyes and simpering sweetness but with bark and bite too. I thought it was obvious."
"How is that obvious?"
"It's not my fault you're obviously a bit slow."
"I am not!"
"And it's almost charming that you think so." Missy put the gingerbread men in the oven and finally turned to face her nemesis turned guest. "Now, I suppose if I'm playing host I'd better offer you a drink. What will it be? We have vodka, cranberry, vodka and cranberry, or water."
"What, the eggnog saved for tomorrow?"
"Don't be absurd, I won't let that foul stuff anywhere near my apartment, let alone my taste buds."
Clara gave her a funny look but seemed like she was holding back a chuckle. "Alright. Er, vodka and cranberry, thanks."
Missy fixed her the drink, and one for herself. They stood in her cookie-laden kitchen sipping at their glasses.
"Why do we hate each other?" Clara asked eventually.
The question wasn't one Missy had anticipated, and she blinked before thinking it over. "Because we're both highly unreasonable people with backbones of steel and little tolerance for others getting in our way."
"I'm not unreasonable-"
"Of course you are. So am I. That's the whole problem, pup, like I just said."
Clara bit her lip, frowning deeply. "Hmm. You might actually be right." She gulped down the rest of her drink and put it on the only free section of counter near her. "So what time is your friend coming? It's already seven. Do you have some kind of special dinner planned? Because I wouldn't want to intrude-"
"He'll get here when he decides to get here," Missy said, shrugging, "I think we'd discussed ordering pizza."
"Pizza?"
"Why not pizza?"
Clara coughed. "No reason. It's just...not what you think of for Christmas, I guess. But you probably do the proper food tomorrow, right?"
"No, we usually order more pizza than we need and reheat it for Christmas," Missy told her as she started whipping up some icing for the gingerbread men.
"Reheated pizza for Christmas lunch and dinner? That's awful."
Missy whipped around and planted her hands on her hips as she glared at her guest. "And just why is that, Miss I Have Superior Ideas of What Christmas Should Be For People I Know Nothing About?"
Clara looked shocked at her words, and swallowed. "Sorry. You're right, I shouldn't - I'll just go, this was a bad idea, I can tell you're regretting it-" She went to head for the door, but Missy was quick to catch her up and grab her tightly by the wrist.
"Nonsense, puppy, I'm not regretting anything," she told her firmly, "I just wanted you to stop nitpicking and try to relax so that you could actually enjoy yourself."
"Maybe I don't want to enjoy myself," Clara snapped, tears springing to her eyes to Missy's bewilderment, "Maybe I just want to be with my dad and gran for Christmas and since that's impossible maybe I just want to go back to my apartment and sit in my bed and cry about the fact that I don't get to spend Christmas with anyone who actually cares about me."
"Well, no, fair point, you could do that," Missy agreed, rolling her eyes, "Or you could use this opportunity to make a new friend or two over the holiday and actually get something out of your misfortune. Or are you so intent on your own pointless misery that you'd really rather go back to your apartment and cry like some kind of baby?"
Clara sniffed and stared at her. "All this time we've hated each other, and now you want to be my friend?"
"Well, not if you keep on with this horrible snivelling thing, I'll get bored of that very quickly," Missy told her, wrinkling her nose with distaste, "But I've decided you're more tolerable when not actively trying to make my life a living hell, and it's Christmas, so why not?"
An odd laugh escaped Clara. "I'm starting to think that I was a bit right when I thought you were mad."
"Oh, as a hatter and then some, dear," Missy said pleasantly, releasing Clara's wrist, "The Doctor's almost as bananas as me, but he hides it better."
"The Doctor?"
"My friend. That's what he's called."
"What kind of name is the Doctor?"
"A silly one, but normal ones don't much suit him and he is silly, so it's for the best. He's Thete to me, and always will be, but he hates it when people call him Theo or Theodore, so just call him Doctor when he arrives."
With the timing of the devil himself, there was a knock at the door and Missy beamed and hurried to answer it. Sure enough, her long time best friend was standing there with a wrapped present in his hands.
"Merry Christmas Eve," he said, with a small smile. She just snatched the present out of his hands.
"Come on in, then."
He walked in only to stop at the sight of Clara. "Er, Missy, there's a short roundish person in your living space."
"I'm aware of that, dear."
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Perfectly. Doctor, this is Clara from next door, Clara, this is the Doctor."
The Doctor's impressive eyebrows furrowed as he stepped closer to Clara. "From next door? You mean the one you've called me to complain about because you hate her so much?"
Clara snorted. "Do they have that thing called tact where you're from? Besides, she's hardly a ray of sunshine herself."
"You don't have to tell me," he said, addressing her properly for the first time, "You're not the one who's known her since she was called Matthew and getting me into trouble left right and centre with parents, teachers and the police."
Clara's eyebrows went up at the Matthew part, but to her credit, she didn't comment. Not that Missy was quietly listening, and not that she cared what Clara thought of such things.
"Really, though, why are you here?" The Doctor asked Clara. "If you two hate each other like I was led to believe."
"My flight home was cancelled. Missy invited me in to hang with you guys. If...that's okay."
"Hey, the more the merrier," he said, shrugging, "It's her that has a problem with people, not me. I'm her only friend."
"That's not true," Missy told him.
"It is so true," he replied, fixing her with a look, "But it seems like this Clara person could be your friend. If you're, you know, nice. Novel concept, for you, I know, but you could try."
Clara giggled. He just blinked at her.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Oh, sorry, you're just not what I expected."
"What were you expecting?"
The smaller brunette shrugged. "When she mentioned her best friend stopping in? I dunno, maybe some kind of weird drug dealer type. Or hitman-"
The Doctor stared at her before turning his indignation onto his friend. "What the hell have you been doing to this poor girl? What does she think of you to assume you have friends like that? Hitman drug dealers?"
"Or washed up death metal guitarist?" Clara added, sheepishly. "That was going to be my other guess."
The Doctor's lips twitched. "Well, I do actually play guitar. None of her awful death metal though. I like David Bowie."
"I've only gone out of my way to make sure she was as annoyed by my presence as I was by hers," Missy remarked, offended, "She's just as horrid as I am, thank you very much."
"Gee, thanks," Clara snorted.
"Any time," Missy snarked back.
"You two are hilarious," the Doctor told them, grinning and going to the cupboard to pull out the guitar he kept at Missy's specifically for his use on special occasions. "By all means, continue your bantering, it's very funny."
He sat on Missy's couch with the ease of someone who had done so many times, and started tuning the guitar.
"You hate banter," Missy reminded him, frowning.
"Usually, but it's funnier when it's you."
Missy just sighed and shook her head. "Come on, Clara, help me with the gingerbread men and ignore silly old Thete."
"Can I have some?" The Doctor called after them as they went into the kitchen.
"Fuck off and learn some patience," Missy retorted without missing a beat, "You get them when they're done and not before."
She heard him chuckle. "Love you too, Koschei."
Missy shook her head and ignored him as she went to the oven to remove the tray of gingerbread men and find a place to set it down that wasn't already holding cookies. All the while, she could feel Clara's eyes on her.
"You called me Clara."
"Hmm. So I did. Don't let it go to your head, pup, I say a lot of silly things almost constantly."
There was a silence as Missy put in the next tray of gingerbread men which had already been prepared. Finally Clara spoke again.
"What was that he called you?" Clara asked. "Ko-something."
"Oh, that," Missy said, turning around to face her and removing her oven mitts, "Koschei. It's my name. The name he gave me."
"I don't understand."
"You know, it's funny, a lot people say they knew straight away they weren't how they should be, and hate hearing their old name, thinking of it as dead," she continued, softly, "But for quite a few years I was Matthew, and I was perfectly happy. Until one day I wasn't. And I told Thete, because he was my best friend, and why wouldn't I?"
"What did he say?"
"He made up the name Koschei. Our secret, special name for me, that people could assume was just us being silly and still a name for a boy, but it wasn't." Missy smiled. "I was Koschei, the girl, and that secret kept me sane for several years. Until I had the nerve to speak to my family."
Clara smiled too, apparently enjoying the story. "What did they say?"
"Oh, they threw me out," she said, shrugging, and it was obvious that Clara couldn't understand how she could say it with such nonchalance, "Said a lot of not very nice things, I'm afraid. But Thete's family took me in, and they helped me choose the name Melissa. Missy for short, as you know. But I'll always be Koschei to old Thete."
"It sounds like you have a really good friend there."
"Yeah," Missy murmured, absently, but smiling again at the thought of him, "He's a daft idiot but he's mine. Think I might keep him."
"Do I really hate so easily that thinking of you as some awful crazy bitch next door was more automatic than trying to get to know you better?" Clara asked. She had a sappy look in her eye that immediately soured Missy's mood. When had this conversation turned into one about feelings?
"Hey, I am an awful crazy bitch next door, don't forget that," Missy told her while getting started on mixing the icing for decorating the gingerbread men. "Now, are you going to help, or are you going to stand there being disgustingly sentimental until I want to be sick all over my lovely biscuits?"
Clara sat on the couch next to the Doctor, while Missy had stretched out entirely across the other one like a cat who happened to also be in possession of a pizza box and a pair of breasts to rest it on.
As Clara ate her slice of pepperoni, she considered the rather bizarre realisation that she had had not a minute before about the fact that she was really enjoying herself. Here. In the lair of the woman who had up until today been her arch-nemesis.
Well, hated neighbour, but arch-nemesis sounded better.
Sure, there was a small part of her that was still upset about not being able to see her Dad and her Gran, but there was another part going thank god I don't have to see Linda, and yet another thinking about how pizza on Christmas Eve wasn't a bad idea at all because there really wasn't a wrong time for pizza and how had she forgotten that?
"So, Clara from next door, what do you do for a living?" The Doctor asked her. "Does Missy even know?"
"Why would I know?" Missy asked, blinking. "I hated her until today, and even now that I like her I'm not sure that I care."
"And you wonder why I'm your only friend," he said, chuckling.
"I'm a schoolteacher," Clara answered, vaguely surprised by the now that I like her comment but being quietly pleased by it even if she made sure not to let it show, "I teach English."
"Very nice," the Doctor replied, sounding like he meant it, "I'm an avid reader myself."
Clara perked up at that. "Yeah? What's your favourite book? If you can pick a favourite, I mean, not everyone can and-"
"Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
That made her grin. "Nice. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard reading a book as when I was reading that. It's complete nonsense."
"I know, that's what makes it brilliant," he agreed, grinning back, "Sci-fi shouldn't be serious. Imagine having the scope of planets and aliens and making it serious. What kind of dull person would do that, when you can make it utterly mad?"
"Not Douglas Adams, apparently."
"Yeah, well, I've always liked him, nice to find someone else who appreciates his work." His gaze moved to Missy, who rolled her eyes.
"You know I don't care massively for novels, I much prefer poetry."
"Poetry's nice," Clara conceded, "But there's something about getting totally immersed in a story. You can't beat it."
"I'm with you," the Doctor said, smiling.
"I don't need to get immersed in a story," Missy told them, wrinkling her nose, "I like my story just fine." She checked the time on her phone. "Ooh, the last batch of gingerbread men are done."
"Can I eat some yet?" The Doctor asked as she got up to go to the kitchen.
"No, you pest, wait. We're almost there." She disappeared to finish off the decorations and get the last batch out.
Clara was more than content to turn to face the Doctor and keep chatting to him. He was an intriguing person, and despite his rather intimidating surface appearance, he had a sparkle - a warmth - in his eyes that she liked a lot.
He had put down his pizza box and picked the guitar back up and was absently strumming chords.
"Do you sing?"
He glanced up. "Sometimes."
"Can you play something?"
He gave her that funny crooked smile of his and started playing a riff that she immediately recognised as Silent Night. Hearing it on guitar was interesting because it was a very different sound, but it was still beautiful and she found herself grinning.
"You're really good."
"It's all just practice," he said, in a way that wasn't humble but wasn't arrogant either.
The Doctor continued to play christmas carols for the next ten minutes, and Clara let her head fall onto the side of the couch, her eyes shutting as she basked in the familiar melodies and found herself thinking that at this rate Christmas wasn't going to be ruined at all.
"Cookie time!" Missy sing-songed as she came back with a very large plate of biscuits and gingerbread men, all iced and decorated to perfection with a meticulous attention to detail.
The guitar was immediately set aside and the Doctor went about demolishing the treats put in front of him.
"Wow, you weren't kidding," Clara remarked to Missy, while nibbling on her own biscuit.
"Would I lie about gluttony on this level?"
"Shut up," the Doctor told them before wolfing down another gingerbread man.
Sure enough, it wasn't ten minutes before the plate was completely empty and Missy was ducking back into the kitchen to fill it up again. Thankfully, although the Doctor continued to eat the biscuits, he did so much slower this time.
"So, are you alright with the couch, puppy?"
"What?"
"Well, you could go next door to your own apartment and sleep in your own bed, but it'll be cold and empty and more than a bit sad," Missy pointed out, "Or you could stay here and have a sleepover with us. My couch is more comfortable than most beds anyway. Or Thete can take the couch like originally planned and you can share my bed with me."
"You really are a bit mad, aren't you?" Clara asked, gaping. "We hated each other this morning."
"And now we don't, it's a fucking Christmas miracle." Missy rolled her eyes. "Now, make your mind up time. Christmas sleepover, yes or no?"
"Yes."
It wasn't the rational choice, or one she could think about too much for fear of changing her mind, but staying here with Missy and the Doctor felt right somehow.
Missy beamed. "Lovely."
"Except, if I take the couch, where would the Doctor be sleeping?"
"Well, as I said, there's room in my bed," Missy said, shrugging, "Even for lanky Scotsmen as opposed to tiny brunettes. It'll be like when we were kids."
"Do we have a torch for secret reading?" The Doctor asked her, with a tiny grin.
"I think the lack of parents makes the secret part a bit redundant, Thete," she replied, rolling her eyes at him.
"You spoil everything."
So sure enough, it wasn't long before Clara was grabbing her pyjamas and getting changed in the bathroom. When she came out, the living room was empty and the bedroom door open. Even though she wasn't entirely why she was doing it, she crept nearer until she was able to lean on the doorframe.
The Doctor was stretched out on Missy's bed, with his friend curled into his side and his arm around her shoulders. It looked like she might already be asleep, since her eyes shut and her head resting on his chest. He was watching her with an affection in his eyes that astounded Clara.
The whole thing was so far from what Clara had thought of Missy until today that she was struck dumb. That was when the Doctor spotted her.
"I think it's been a long day for her," he said, smiling at Clara, "She actually let go of her hatred for another human being. It had to have been difficult. It's never happened before."
It was hard to tell if he was trying to be funny or not.
"Why am I so special?" She asked him, frowning.
"I don't know, and I doubt she does either," he admitted, "But won't it to be interesting to find out?" He shifted slightly so that he was lying more vertically, and Missy only cuddled into him more. "Goodnight, Clara. Can you get the light?"
"Sure," she said, flicking the switch, "Goodnight, Doctor." She shut the door and headed for the couch where a blanket and pillow had been left for her. She curled up to find that Missy hadn't been lying about how comfy it was, and was asleep in a near instant.
Clara was woken by someone tripping over something near her and cursing afterwards. When she cracked her eyes open, she saw the grey haired stick insect standing by the Christmas tree.
"Morning," she said. He turned around.
"Morning, Clara," he said, smiling at her. Her name sounded nice when he said it with that Scottish brogue. and it made her smile back. "Sorry if I woke you."
"It's fine. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you too."
She grabbed some clothes from her suitcase and went to the bathroom to get changed and brush her teeth, emerging feeling more refreshed. When she came back to the living room the Doctor was still the only one there, tinkering with the Christmas tree lights.
For the first time Clara noticed that the tree only had two presents underneath it and that one of them was the one the Doctor had brought. The other had 'Thete' scribbled on it.
It was sad, this further indicator of Missy really only having one person in her life that cared about her. But also oddly touching, because having seen it with her own eyes, she knew that at least that one person did care about her a lot. Probably more than anyone in Clara's life cared about her except her dad and her gran. Maybe even just as much as.
"Everything okay?"
She shook herself of those thoughts, if only because they might have started showing on her face if the Doctor's concerned look was anything to go by.
"Yeah, fine. Missy not up yet?"
The Doctor shook his head. "She always takes a while. She'll be out when she wants to be."
That made perfect sense given what Clara knew about Missy. She was struck by a brilliant idea and went to the kitchen to see if it could be carried out. Her investigation into the matter told her that it could, and she immediately set to work.
Some fifteen minutes later, a familiar voice made her jump.
"What the hell are you up to?" Missy asked, her voice not nearly as unfriendly as her words should have made it. It was a question of bewilderment, not accusation.
"I'm making pancakes," Clara said, looking at her over her shoulder as she flipped one over in the pan.
"Why?"
"Because you've been really, oddly nice to me and it seemed like a nice Christmas gesture? Besides, we can't eat only pizza and biscuits all day."
"Can too," Missy retorted, and Clara just lifted an eyebrow. "But...I suppose pancakes for breakfast would make a change."
"You're welcome," Clara told her, smirking.
Missy ignored her and went on to the living room, leaving Clara to cook the rest of the pancakes. When she brought them out to the coffee table, she was amused to find Missy pulling a reluctant Doctor into dancing with her to the cheesy Christmas music coming from the speakers on the bookshelf.
"Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock," Missy was crooning as she held the Doctor's hands tight and forced him to spin around with her.
Clara grinned at the sight, surprised how fondness could take up in her so quickly when she had only met one of them yesterday and hated the other until about the same time.
"Food," she told them, and they broke from their dance to sit down and serve themselves.
That was when she realised that Missy was wearing her hair down, something she wasn't sure she had ever seen. Normally it was pulled back from her face, which only emphasised her sharp features, but having the dark waves framing it softened her and made her look rather beautiful.
"You look nice," Clara told her. She was also wearing a lovely red dress with medium length sleeves and a floaty skirt, so 'nice' was a massive understatement, but Clara wasn't sure she felt comfortable enough with her yet to offer anything more.
"Oh," Missy said, blinking with apparent surprise all the same, "Thank you, dear. Some of us actually try to put effort into the holiday season." She sent a glare to the Doctor, who was wearing an outfit almost identical to his one from the day before - a band t-shirt under a black hoodie with a dark coat over top and some plaid trousers.
"What? It's only you, why should it matter?" He asked defensively.
"Only me," she replied, "Well that's charming that is, thanks. Way to make a girl feel appreciated." She put her arm around Clara's shoulder, which was only mildly alarming. "You know, I've got Clara now. I could replace you like this." She clicked the fingers of her other hand.
"Yeah, yeah," the Doctor said, obviously not too worried. Clara just found herself chuckling at their antics.
Deep down Clara knew she didn't at all regret how the last twenty four hours had panned out. She could skype her dad and Gran later to say Merry Christmas, and in the meantime would keep enjoying the new company of the bizarre people she was possibly considering friends.
The Doctor, after complimenting Clara on the pancakes and thanking her for making them, hopped up to grab the two presents from under the tree and handed Missy's to her before sitting back down with his.
For some reason, the Doctor's present turned out to be a book on knitting patterns, and he was delighted with it, ringing home that he really was an anomalous individual (whom Clara liked very much).
Missy opened her own present with a surprising delicacy, her red nails pulling at the paper until it fell away to reveal a book of old poetry. Her eyes widened and her head lifted to look at the Doctor.
"Is this the-"
"One with all the really morbid ones you like, yeah," he answered, smiling at her. Missy held the book close to her chest as she got up to go and lean down to kiss him on the cheek. He smiled quietly as she went and sat back down next to Clara.
"I'll be right back," the Doctor said, getting up and disappearing off down the hall.
Clara watched him go before letting her gaze fell back to Missy, who made for a striking picture with how her nails and lipstick matched her scarlet dress. It made the schoolteacher feel plain in her ratty old jumper and jeans. But then, who was she trying to impress? Certainly not Missy, and her friend had made it clear that people's attire was unimportant to him. And she wasn't trying to impress him either.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Missy asked quietly. She put her elbow on the edge of the couch so that she could rest her head on her hand again as she watched Clara, with those icy blue eyes that contrasted with every other part of her.
"Uh," Clara said, "Nothing much of interest. Just feel like I must look a bit rubbish next to you at the moment."
Missy stared for a moment, and then laughed. "Nonsense, dear. You're plenty gorgeous enough to be sitting next to me, even if that jumper probably needs to be burned."
Clara laughed. "Um, thanks, I think?"
That was when they became aware of the Doctor standing over them, a sprig of mistletoe in his hand and a shit-eating grin on his face.
"Thete, what the hell are you doing?" Missy asked the Doctor, arching an eyebrow.
"You always have mistletoe," he said as if it were obvious, "You like to catch me and kiss me because you know it annoys me. Decided to find it for myself first this year. Now come on, you know exactly what you have to do."
Missy rolled her eyes but leaned in to give a surprised Clara a fleeting kiss on the cheek. Then without warning she grabbed the Doctor by the coat and yanked him down so that she could plant one on his cheek as well, making him grumble and push away from her.
"The whole point of this was for me to get to annoy you with the mistletoe for once," he said, sighing.
"Well, that's silly, I didn't work this hard to only be a bit annoying, I'm fully and the most annoying, thank you very much," Missy told him, smirking.
"Oh believe me, I know."
Clara just started laughing. One could really see how they had been friends from childhood, because they still acted like kids.
Missy just got up and turned the radio up even more. An especially merry rendition of Winter Wonderland was playing, and the Doctor wasted no time in sweeping her into another silly dance, only this time he was the one leading and he was actually participating with some enthusiasm.
Clara contently watched them until the Doctor pulled her up to switch to dancing with her instead. Their height difference made it a bit comical but they made surprisingly good partners and ended up grinning at each other as they circled the couches.
Missy eventually stole Clara off the Doctor, and Clara had to laugh at how if she had told herself from 24 hours before what she would end up doing on Christmas, she would have thought it was pure insanity.
And yet, she was oddly having the time of her life with these two mad people.
As the Doctor picked up the guitar again and Clara continued to dance with Missy, she thought that it might just turn out to be one of her best Christmases ever. When they later squeezed into a single couch (which wasn't actually much of a squeeze at all, thankfully, just cosy with the blanket) and watched Love Actually with their biscuits and leftover pizza, she was sure that it was.
It just went to show that sometimes the strangest things in life could also be the best.
These three are just the best, I love them so much. Hope you liked it, let me know what you thought, and Merry Christmas!
-MayFairy :)