And this is nearly at the time limit! Day 4!

Christmas, Day 4: Impatience

"But Da-ave! There's only two days till Christmas Eve!"

Dave slumped into the couch, defeated. "Fine. Where'd you put those lights, anyways?"

Jade smiled happily, hopping off of the couch. "They're somewhere!"

"Isn't that a little too vague?"

"Nope! Looking for the decorations is all part of the fun!"

Dave sighed. "And I can't do anything to get out of this, can I?"

"Of course not! You're not weaseling out this year, Strider!"

Reluctantly, Dave stood up, brushing nonexistent crumbs off his pants. "Where to now, Harley?"

To his surprise, Jade jumped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She pointed her finger at the doorway, her voice as energetic as always. "Onwards, my trusty steed!"

Dave shook his head as he complied, jogging out the door and down the hallway. With Jade piggybacking on Dave, the two ran around the house. Whenever they would find a piece of decoration, Jade would wrap it around her elbow or hold it under her arm before they would continue to look around. Eventually, a tired Dave sat down on the couch and watched a still-energetic Jade run around the apartment, hanging up lights, little snowflakes, fancy santas, and who-knows-what.

After what seemed like an hour, the noises of decoration and the clinking of plastic died down. Dave stretched his arms out, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he covered his mouth with a yawn. He glanced at the clock, slowly closing his eyes to take a little nap and letting his mind wander when he felt something push itself under his arm.

Dave glanced downwards and nearly fainted in embarrassment. Jade had wiggled her way under his arm and curled herself into the couch. Already, she had fallen into a deep sleep.

On the other hand, he noticed that his hand was pinned by Jade's weight. Screaming internally, he looked around the apartment, where decorations were carefully pinned to every wall, lights giving off a warm glow in every corner. Each light seemed to tire his mind until sleep was the only thing that he could think of.

"A quick nap can't hurt," he thought to himself. "Wait, aren't the others coming today-"

Before Dave could finish his thought, he had fallen into a dreamless sleep. Something tugged at the back of his mind, and he could swear he could smell... marker? Despite his best efforts, he kept drifting off in his sleep.

At least, until someone threw a bucket- yes, a bucket- of water onto the sleeping couple.

Both Dave and Jade shot up like cats, sputtering as they spit the water out of their mouths. As Dave went to wipe his head with his sleeve, he saw the marker dripping onto his carpet.

"Aw hell naw."

He glanced around and, sure enough, he saw the two tricksters trying to hold back laughter as Jade grabbed onto Dave's shirt and wiped her face, still drowsy from her nap. In a split second, Jade remembered where she was, jumping up off the couch and launching herself at the blue-eyed duo. John and Jane looked at each other, each one dodging towards a separate side and sprinting into the kitchen. Jade was on their tails, growling as though she were more of a dog than a human.

Dave let himself sink back into the couch as Dirk, Roxy, and Rose walked into the mess in the living room.

"This place is an absolute mess, Dave. You should know better," Rose berated, putting up a motherly attitude. In response, Dave grumbled something along the lines of "It was Jane and Jake again," drying his shades on his already blackened shirt.

"Where did they go, then?" Roxy asked, leaning on Rose. "I wanna- hic- see them right now. For- hic- reasons."

Dave pointed at the kitchen. "They went that-a-way, madam I-can't-stop-drinking."

Roxy put on a pout at the statement. "Hey! I can- hic- stop drinking whenever I want! It's just- hic- that I don't want to."

Rose gave the two a pitying look. "Come, I'll help you get over to them." She helped support the drunk Roxy as the two walked into the kitchen, where a lot of loud noises were starting to becoming noticeable. As Dave stood up to go to his room, Dirk spoke up.

"So, are you and Jade a 'thing' now, brother?"

Dave tried his best, but he failed in hiding his blush as it crept up his neck. "No? We were both just tired, so it just so happened that we fell asleep on the couch."

Dirk smirked. "Really? You two seemed to be real comfortable. You want to see?" To his surprise, Dirk pulled out his smartphone, opening it up to a group chat where Jane and John were taking a selfie with Dave and Jade in the background. As he expected, both he and Jade had marker on their faces, and a bucket of cold water was visible in the corner of the picture.

"Egbert's a dead man," Dave thought to himself. As he opened up his mouth to respond, a voice came from the bathroom. "Mister Strider! I require your assistance with this newfangled technology inside the lavatory! There seems to be-"

"Alright, I'm coming, Jake! And no one uses half of those words anymore!"

A few words of protest came from the bathroom as Dirk himself turned to leave the living room. Reminiscent of what happened a few minutes earlier, Dave asked a question. "So, we both know you have a thing for him, bro. Are you going to make a move anytime soon?"

A small smile crept up Dirk's lips. "After you, good sire."

The two exchanged a brotherly handshake into a fistbump before parting ways; Dirk to help Jake "fix" something in the bathroom, and Dave to find a change of clothes.

When Dave had opened the door to leave his room with a new set of clothes, another bucket of ice-cold water fell onto him. This time, it was Jane and Jade who were laughing at the soaking wet Strider, with their laughter only getting louder as he sneezed. Annoyed, he re-entered his room with a slam.

A few minutes later, Dave cautiously opened the door. It seemed as though no one was nearby, to his luck. Every step he took was careful, quiet, and calculating. On his way to the living room, he picked up a pair of air horns from a nearby closet. To his surprise, it seemed as though everyone was engrossed in some sort of movie; Rose and Dirk were wiping away slight tears, while Jake, John, and Jade were bawling their eyes out. Jane could be heard in the kitchen, baking away at who-knows-what.

In a single movement, he slid so he was positioned directly behind John. To his luck, he didn't seem to notice. He closed his eyes and smiled as he smashed onto the buttons as hard as he could.

John, Jade, and Jake visibly jumped from their seats like cats, and Jane could be heard dropping a wooden spoon in the kitchen. Dave began to laugh, only beginning to run in mock fear as John began to chase him holding a smuppet, found under the couch. The fear soon became real as Jane ran out of the kitchen, holding a burnt wooden spoon in one hand and a fork in the other. For the third time that day, Dave ran into his room to wait out the onslaught from the tricksters. Oddly enough, John seemed to go back to watch the movie as soon as possible, and Jane ran back to check on whatever she had been cooking. Either that or they were bluffing. Dave, unwilling to take any chances, locked the door and lay on his bed. A sudden, strange fatigue came over him, and he fell asleep, tired from doing nothing.

A light rapping on his door woke him from his light sleep. Groaning, he got up and put his ear to the door. He jumped back once the light rapping started again, slightly more frantic this time. Out of curiosity, he unlocked the door, only for Jade to burst in and lock the door behind her.

"Woah there! Slow down, Harley? Why do you want to be in my room?"

"Hide and seek," Jade gasped, tired from running. "Jane'll pinch us if she catches us."

Dave looked at her incredulously. "And you decide to hide in my room?"

"Everyone thinks you're asleep," Jade said, shrugging.

"They're probably gonna guess that you're here," Dave groaned. "In three, two, one-"

A harder set of knocks rammed at the door, causing the two to jump. "Hey!" John yelled. "We know you two lovebirds are in there! Knock it out, the game's over!"

Dave rolled his eyes, heading towards the door to unlock it. As he made his first steps there, Jade grabbed his arm, staring up at him with a pleading look in her eyes. Dave quickly scanned his rooms; it was bare, with the only real hiding place being the bathroom. He could pretend to be asleep, but he knew that John had the ability to pick locks, so that could put Jade at risk. In a moment, he had an idea that caused him to visibly cringe.

As the door handle rattled, he judged his options. In the end, he decided to go with his idea, whispering something into Jade's ear and causing her to blush. In two minutes, the scene was set up.

A minute after they had laid down, John finally picked the lock, entering the room alone. He approached Dave, who could barely see the marker through his squinting. As John opened the marker, Dave's eyes shot open and he sat up, groaning. As he pretended to rub his eyes, Dave could see John quickly capping the marker and stuffing it down his pocket.

"Oh, h-h-hey Dave! I was just- erm- looking for Jade! Have you seen her?"

Dave gave his best friend an irritated look. "Look, I just woke up to your having broken into my bedroom. I don't care about your excuse and let me have my beauty rest, goddamnit."

John, still nervous and stuttering, was half-pushed and half-walked by a seemingly drowsy Dave. The moment John left, he gently closed the door, relocking it and pulling out a padlock for added measure. Jade popped out from under his covers, still blushing hard and sporting messy hair. Dave thought she looked cute like that, but quickly pushed the thought away. He glanced at the door, a thought forming in his head.

"He might come back. You could always move to another room, but you could stay h-"

"Yes."

Jade quickly covered her mouth, her face covering itself in a hue of deep red. "I don't mean it like-"

Dave planted a quick kiss on her forehead. "Yeah, you do now."

"Strider!" Jade said, her voice becoming louder by the second. "You're not-"

"You're too loud; they might hear you."

"You're not the boss of me either way," she continued, lowering her voice to a whisper.

Dave grinned. "I know."

For some reason, John, Roxy, Dirk, Jake, Jane, and Rose couldn't manage to find Jade, despite the game being over.

"Are you sure that she wasn't in Dave's room?" Jane asked, miffed as to how Jade had somehow become such a good hider.

"Yes, I'm definitely sure," John responded. "I'd rather not go in there when he's so grumpy, so why would Jade even try to go in there? Besides, it's really hot in there. You know how irrational Jade gets when... it's..."

As John trailed off, Dirk snickered. "Do you want to bet five bucks that they're in bed together?"