Author's Notes: This story takes place during the winter between my other stories, TNK and TNK2. If you're not familiar with the TNK universe, worry not! I tried keeping this oneshot as stand-alone as possible, while also trying to keep it open to as many seasonal practices as possible. If you are familiar with the series, be forewarned that some details won't match up.

Once again, the majority of this was written in a single sitting three nights ago. Hopefully I've managed to catch all of the more noticeable mistakes since then.

Whatever holiday you celebrate around this time of year, I wish you all a SAFE and joyful one!

"-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-"

Candy Cane for Your Thoughts

Or "A TNK Christmas Special!"

"-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-"

It was strange, to be honest.

All around Vale, decorations of red, green and gold were cropping up. Storefronts, the post office, the bank, the schools, the houses… everywhere! People were either at their most friendly, or at their most stressed state. Even the radio seemed devoted to filling peoples' ears with holiday "cheer," considering how the only tunes that had played for the past half-month could all be found in the most basic caroling booklet.

So some up and coming musical artist had a new version for "Carol of the Bells?"

Whoop. De. Freaking. Do.

"Candy cane for your thoughts?"

Garet was lucky they were done with school for the season. It meant that the heavy, concussion-inducing textbooks were less likely to be within throwing reach. As it was, Isaac could only let out an irritated sigh. "I'd rather just turn off that thing." He pointed in the general direction of the truck's radio controls, his vision staying focused on the frosted road as they pulled up to a stoplight.

With a shrug, Garet reached and turned the dial that controlled the power to the sound system. For a moment, the cabin was silent. Then, "Offer still stands."

Isaac resisted gritting his teeth. "I'd rather not."

"Radio's already off. It's what I like to call that 'thing.' And you've been moody all week." Garet glanced over at him. Isaac didn't need to look back to know the taller teen was showing a mix of what was meant to be friendly concern and curiosity. Garet simply did do angry. Not unless he was pushed past a point, and even that took effort. "Do I really have to act like there's no one else in this truck to talk to for the next ten minutes?" The traffic light changed to green, and the truck eased forward.

As much as Isaac didn't want to admit it, his friend had a point. And that was what Garet was: a friend. Isaac's best friend. Isaac's head hung heavy. "Sorry." He knew he'd been short with everyone lately. He'd even tried going out of his way to avoid interacting with anyone. Unfortunately—or maybe "fortunately"—for him, since moving to Vale, he had made friends with some of the most insistent and interactive people the town had to offer.

At some point, Isaac realized he had been quiet for the past few minutes. In that time, they had made a turn, stopped at and crossed at least two four-way stops, and pulled up to another red light. What struck him more was how Garet had not spoken during that time, despite his earlier conversation comments. Isaac was becoming very convinced that silence was a favored tactic of the red-head. What sucked was that it worked.

"I… I just don't like the holidays so much. That's all." There, he could leave it at that.

"Why's that?" Crap.

Isaac rolled his head back against the headrest. "Just think about it. It has to be the most depressing time of the year, right? People are cooped up at home because of the weather, so everyone is more likely to get sick. On top of that, when people do get out of the house, everywhere they go is just ad after ad after ad, and everyplace is just Hel-bent to make people bend over backwards and fork out all the money they have on meaningless gifts, most of which will be put away or tossed aside for forever and a day until the next garage sale. Add with every charity ever made, pushing hurt animals and starving kids in your face—like it's your fault the world has problems, and it's your fault if the world continues to have problems, and a sin for you to not share in those problems—and it's all just… depressing!" He rubbed circles between his brows in frustration. "It's all messed up."

Garet frowned. "I'm going to take a wild guess that something happened to make you start thinking that way." To their right, the Pequod Coffee shop passed by, and the red-head only barely noted that all of the lights were off. Felix had said he'd be stuck with the early closing shift that day, so it was good to see he hadn't been held up for too long. It also meant they were nearing their destination. "I just picked you up from your house. Your mom seemed to be getting in the full swing of things, so I don't think you got it from her."

Isaac shook his head, still not looking at his friend. "No, Mom loves it. I go along with it to keep her happy. Sol knows she needs it." He let out another sigh.

That seemed to make something click in Garet's mind. "It's your dad again, isn't it?"

"Isn't it always?" Isaac was definitely feeling irritated. He didn't even comment when Garet turned two blocks early, or when Garet turned a second time and set them in the entirely wrong direction. Knowing Isaac, Garet knew it was safe to say that Isaac was too busy thinking to bother keeping track of their location.

"It's not just him, though," Isaac finally continued, albeit in a lower tone. "In Tolbi, after Dad died, we had a family friend who loved the holidays more than any other time of the year. She died from cancer in her mid-forties, three months after being diagnosed, and two weeks before the holiday. An older neighbor died two days before the holiday from a blood disorder he'd been fighting for less than a year. Another neighbor's grandson was accidentally shot and killed three days later. He was just a kid…"

As he had been talking, Isaac had shifted in his seat. He was now leaning forward, and his hands gripped at his jeans just above the knees.

"Seemed like, while everyone else was busy celebrating, other people just kept on dying, or getting hurt, or guilting people about people dying or getting hurt. What is it that everyone else is even celebrating? The only answer I ever get is that it's the time of year to do so, and so we should do so. It just doesn't make any sense to me."

Garet studied his hunched friend. Isaac wasn't someone who liked to complain. He'd been shot down too much in the past to see any point in it, no matter how valid the complaint really was. Despite all their progress, Isaac was still someone who would prefer to stubbornly keep every problem to himself, even if it meant those problems could possibly kill him. That much had already been proven earlier that year, and more than once at that.

"Isaac… If that's the only answer you ever get, then the people you asked were all idiots." Isaac's back and knuckles stiffened, and Garet took satisfaction in getting a response. "It doesn't matter if you follow the religious mumbo jumbo at this time of year or not. I know I don't. I think Mia and Alex pay tribute to their faith around this time, but Mia still joins in with the rest of us in a non-religious way. Alex is a jerk, so he doesn't count." Garet was pretty sure he got a snicker out of that.

"Point is, people celebrate because it's a time in the year when we get to spend time with our friends and/or family. It's easier because just about everyone is getting the same vacation time. As for the material side, words are cheap, and not all of us are able to express ourselves enough through actions or good deeds. Most people use gifts to make up for the difference." He grinned wryly at his next thought. "I guess it's also a good time to celebrate having been able to survive for another year." Sol knows they'd done plenty of that.

Again, the duo sat in silence. After some time, Isaac gradually started to loosen up. The silence felt less uncomfortable and more contemplative the longer they sat there, and Garet wondered if he should feel pleased with himself. Isaac wasn't the easiest person to get through to. When something did crack the wall, the event was almost on the scale of warranting a national observance of its own.

"How long have we been sitting here?" Isaac finally broke the silence. He was quiet, as though worried the silence would bite him for being disturbed.

Garet sat up so he could at last pull the keys from the ignition. The pieces of metal clinked together as they were jostled, but he didn't pocket them yet. "Not too long. I took a few extra trips around the block to buy some time."

Isaac hummed thoughtfully to himself. Lifting his head, Kraden's house sat directly in front of them. The windshield was beginning to fog, and he noted how they would need to be careful when climbing the two snow-covered front steps. "Really wish I didn't have to go in and study for today."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Garet replied with a shrug. "This is probably the first time Kraden's had a break from work since before the dinosaurs went extinct." Isaac snorted at that. Garet just grinned. "I'll stick around in case he lets you go early. Or maybe I can get into something so he'll shoo us out even earlier?"

Isaac shook his hanging head, but he was grinning when he looked to Garet. "Please don't. He's still lecturing me about the last time you did that." Garet merely pouted and commented about the unfairness of it all. Nonetheless, he climbed out of the vehicle and followed after Isaac to the house. The front door was unlocked, as it usually was when Kraden was expecting them, and so Isaac opened it to let themselves in. He didn't notice Garet's pout turning upside down behind him, nor the hand reaching for a pocket.

Three. Two. One-

A series of "POP POP POP"s rang out from the room beyond the door. Isaac froze in wide-eyed bewilderment as confetti rained down on him. "What the-?"

"MERRY SOLSTICE!"

Isaac could barely believe the sight of the six grinning people before him. Ivan. Sheba. Mia. Felix. Jenna. Professor Kraden. Each person was standing in a haphazard attempt at a semicircle around the door, and each held an exploded party popper in their hands. Another POP sounded behind him, and he spun to find Garet holding a similar popper and grinning like mad. Isaac was at a loss for words.

"Like I said," Garet began, "you've been moody for over a week now. More like all month, really."

Jenna picked up the explanation, "We could tell you were avoiding us."

"Wasn't hard for us to 'read' the reason," continued Ivan, alluding to his psychic skills.

"And really, you should've known we would know," Sheba added.

Mia nodded shyly. "We asked your mom, and she said this was normal for you at this time of year."

"We figured having all of us around was something else you weren't used to," Felix supplied, putting his hands in his pockets to take on his usual brooding look, despite the remaining smile.

Kraden stepped forward, and beamed proudly at his student. "And that, my boy, was something worthy of remedy."

Completely overwhelmed, Isaac could only continue to stare. What words were there for something such as this? Not even his own family had ever- He became vaguely aware of his eyesight blurring, and wiped furiously at his eyes with a sleeve to keep the waterworks at bay. A hand clamped down on his shoulder, and in the next instant Garet was leaning with his forearm across the back of Isaac's shoulders.

"Best part is," stated Garet, sounding very matter-of-factly beside him, "there's no shortage on candy canes." To prove the point, he held up a fistful of the red and white candy in his free hand. Isaac let out a bark of laughter as he made the connection, and broke into a shaky fit of what could only be described as ecstatic, almost hysterical giggles. He wouldn't stand a chance at finding his voice again for a good several minutes, now!

And that, my friends, was perfectly alright.

"-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-"

And there's a hand, my trusty friend!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

"-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-"

End

"-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-"

A/N: Pequod Coffee was supposed to appear in chapter 5 of TNK2. But before the chapter could be finished and uploaded, the series was put on hold and placed at the mercy of a fine-toothed comb of Rewrite, and a high-def magnifying glass of Nit-Picky-Ness. According to Wikipedia, "Pequod Coffee" was going to be the original name for Starbucks Coffee, its namesake being the ship from Moby Dick. It's now forevermore stuck in my head as Felix's part-time job location. Poor guy.

Cheers!