This is something I got the idea for yesterday (Christmas Eve) and frantically typed out some of last night and this morning (Christmas Day). Because it has been so haphazardly churned out, it might just show. I apologize for this, but I hope you enjoy it regardless. I may just beta it if it sucks a little too hard.
Also, Saleek and Tak'la (Kayla), as mentioned in the summary, are K/S babies I created for Nexus Dreams. I may write more pieces including them if people don't find them too obnoxious. I know K/S children can be somewhat controversial, but I'm too much of a sucker for the idea not to include it. ;D
Merry Christmas (or insert holiday here), Everyone!
He sat up slightly in his twin bed, causing the frame to creak. In the middle of the pitch black darkness, he squinted to see if his sister was still awake.
"Kayla…"
The first call did nothing more than make their fat pet sehlat, Pa-Yut, turn over slightly in her sleeping position in the middle of the rug.
"Kayla…" he tried again. The small lump on the bed that was no doubt her sleeping form did nothing still. "Kayla!"
"Why do you insist on calling my name, Saleek?" she finally replied at a normal volume. "Is something the matter?"
The quarter-Vulcan boy threw the sheets off his legs, jumped from the bed, and made his way over to Tak'la's (Kayla's) bed. He leapt up on the mattress and proceeded to shake her resilient shoulder.
"Don't be so loud," he instructed sharply. "Santa's gonna hear you and then we'll get coal-or no presents at all!"
Tak'la shifted, keeping her back facing Saleek.
"If I'm not mistaken, brother, we must be asleep for Santa to bring us presents. That's what Dad said. I, at least, am pretending to sleep."
"I don't care about that. I wanna see Santa, and this might be our only choice. Don't you want to see Santa, Kayla?"
"Well…I will admit that he has peaked my curiosity a little…but if we're not asleep-"
Saleek jumped off of Tak'la's bed, fully waking Pa-Yut.
"Aww, he's not gonna know," he insisted, confidently placing his hands on his hips. "We'll be real quiet and we'll only stick around for a second or two- just to peek."
Tak'la sat up, but did not immediately leave the safety of her covers. He couldn't quite make out her face, but Saleek was sure it was morphed into her signature grimace of reluctance. It was quite a display of emotion for someone who prided herself on her miniscule Vulcan heritage.
Pa-Yut, at this point, had climbed onto her bed and sprawled herself over the expanse of the mattress, pretending to be asleep so that maybe the children would follow her example. Unfortunately for her effort, Tak'la simply pushed the large creature away and stepped off onto the hardwood floor.
"Alright then," she consented softly, adjusting the twisted fabric of her white silk nightgown. "But only a peek."
The two children then tiptoed across the floor, gently opened their bedroom door so that the hinges couldn't be heard folding, and continued their sneaky trek across the hallway to the stairs. Pa-Yut rose quickly and followed them out, each bound creating a large, reverberating thump.
"Shh!" Saleek hissed at the animal. "If you're gonna follow us, you have to keep quiet!"
Pa-Yut whimpered, her small ears flattening back on her head in shame. She then attempted to creep as quietly as her two companions, but the floorboards still creaked at her every step. The siblings chose to ignore this, figuring that Santa would attribute the noise to large pet.
They descended the stairs slowly, and only went as far as was necessary for them to see through the railing to the living room beyond. Saleek, being at the front of the group, saw the scene first, and his face immediately lit up with disbelieving elation. He sent his sister and the sehlat a huge grin, and beckoned feverishly for them to come beside him.
As they did so, the both of them were able to see exactly what had the young boy so worked up. Sure enough, a large, red-suited man with black boots was busy placing presents at the foot of their glowing evergreen tree. Only Tak'la noticed that his body fat was a little lumpy and oddly placed, but she said nothing.
For an indeterminate amount of time, the children watched him place the presents and fill the stockings. All of this was as they had heard it in the stories, and even Tak'la was ready to silence her suspicions with this irrefutable proof that the man existed. What was odd and misplaced, however, was when Santa was readying to leave. He eyed the cookies they had left him and even picked one up to inspect it. He turned it over in his gloved hands, rather reluctantly, seeming to debate whether or not he should actually consume it.
The siblings looked at one another, puzzled. In accordance with the folklore, Santa should have been thoroughly enjoying at least one of those cookies. There couldn't have been anything wrong with them, after all. They had made them earlier that evening and their Dad had enthusiastically sampled more than he probably should have, causing a scold from their half-Vulcan father. The children, themselves, had enjoyed them too.
Why wouldn't Santa?
They suddenly heard a familiar voice. Following it was the unexpected appearance of their golden-haired Dad in the living room. He was decked out in his flannel pajamas, his eyes looking sleepy as he said something inaudible to Santa Claus.
"I didn't know Dad knew Santa…" Saleek whispered.
"Remember when he told us that parents are Santa's helpers?" Tak'la reminded.
Dad continued to approach Santa, now grinning and laughing softly at whatever inaudible thing Santa was saying back to him. He came to the other side of the plate of cookies, studied them a moment, selected a gingerbread man, and broke off the cookie's leg. He then gradually brought it to Santa's mouth, eventually popping it in and watching the man savor it.
Dad chuckled again, urging Santa to sit down on the chair beside the end table. He complied, and Dad picked up the plate of cookies, sat himself down on Santa's lap, and continued the routine of breaking off cookie pieces and feeding Santa with them, slowly.
"That's a strange way to ask Santa for something…" Saleek felt obligated to point out. Tak'la only nodded.
Dad then wrapped an arm around Santa's shoulders and playfully removed his hat. The view was more than a little obscured, but Tak'la could have sworn that Santa had them same flaxen, raven black hair as their Father. It was more than strange, but there was still much about this man that she didn't know. He certainly could have similar hair, why not?
At some point, Dad placed the plate of cookies back on the table beside them and proceeded to wrap both arms around Santa's neck. He then kissed him, longer and more enthusiastically than the kids had ever seen him kiss their Father.
"Eeeew!" Saleek exclaimed.
"I quite agree, brother," Tak'la whispered through a look of disgust.
Suddenly, their Dad stopped passionately kissing Santa and looked upwards towards the stairs, directly at the two spies. They noticed Santa was doing the same.
Saleek jumped up immediately and pushed Tak'la and Pa-Yut back up. All three frantically bounced up the stairs, through the hallway, and back to the safety of their bedroom, closing the door with a loud slam.
The two children instantly leapt back into their respective twin beds and brought the covers up to their chins. Pa-Yut, meanwhile, hid underneath Tak'la's bed.
"That was a close one…" Saleek said after a time, still quivering beneath his blankets.
"Definitely," his sister agreed.
They were silent again.
"Kayla…" Saleek spoke once more. "…I didn't know Santa had pointed ears. Do you think he's a Vulcan?"
"Perhaps, Saleek…" Tak'la answered. "What I do know is that Father should never find about this."
Saleek laughed. "Yeah. He'd be in trouble then!"
Tak'la nodded, grinning.
"Most definitely he would."