Christmas, Cookies and Tequila
***
The two women sat next to each other on the tiled kitchen floor, copious amounts of torn wrapping paper and discarded presents around them. Meredith was examining her split ends, Cristina was munching cookies from a bright box that they had stolen from Izzie's room after their first bottle of eggnog. Through the open door to the living-room, they could see the Christmas tree Izzie had put up after Thanksgiving. The red and green lights were twinkling, conjuring a soothing rhythm of colour.
"Damn, Izzie is a nutjob, but those cookies are fantastic."
Abandoning her split ends, Meredith took the half-eaten cookie from Cristina's hand. "She's Izzie, of course her cookies are perfect. She bakes all the time."
"Well, she's had a lot of practice. Remember all those muffins?" Meredith gave her friend a stern look.
"Cristina, we don't talk about the muffins, those were mourning muffins."
Cristina shrugged and produced a bottle of tequila from one of the cabinets.
"Hey, I didn't know there was any tequila left in the house!"
"That's my secret stash."
"You have a secret stash of tequila at my house? Cristina Yang, I underestimated you."
A grin spread on Cristina's face, and she opened the bottle without further ado. "Glasses?"
Meredith shook her head. "We don't need glasses. Glasses are for shiny people, shiny people like George and Izzie. You and I, we drink it straight from the bottle."
"So how's our list going?" Meredith fished for a piece of paper that rested somewhere near her feet. There were lots of stains on it, some eggnog, some whiskey, and it had been edited with black marker more than once. By now, it was almost unreadable, but then both women were drunk, so it didn't really matter anyway. Meredith squinted her eyes and held the piece of paper closer to her face.
"George is at the bottom, even the Chief rates higher than him."
"George is Bambi. No-one wants to do Bambi. The Chief on the other hand..."
"Eww!" Grabbing the bottle of tequila, Meredith took a swig, feeling the alcohol burn down her throat. Cristina snatched the bottle back immediately.
"Hey, all I'm saying is that your mother had taste."
"Double eww! I vote for the Chief being on the last spot. Hand me the marker. Thanks. So... then comes George, then that guy from peds, then Karev, then McSteamy, then Burke and then Derek."
"Seriously? McSteamy is steamier than Derek. This is the surgeons' sexiest men alive list, and McSteamy cannot be on the third place. He did his own stitches, Mer!"
"He's not all that steamy. He's... not as steamy as Derek. Derek could do his own stitches. Derek is... Derek is very steamy," Meredith finished somewhat lamely.
Cristina snorted.
"Mer, Derek is McDreamy. He gives you dreamy eyes, dreamy engagement rings, and then dreamy babies. There's nothing steamy about babies. So McDreamy, McSteamy, and then Burke is our Sexiest Surgeon Alive."
"I don't like babies," Meredith continued inconsequentially, the list momentarily forgotten. "Sure, they're nice to look at when you're upset, but I'm not upset, I'm just dark and twisty, and dark and twisty doesn't go with babies. Derek knows that."
The front door opened and closed, and it wasn't long before Izzie and George stumbled into the kitchen, all fresh faces and reindeer sweaters.
Cristina groaned.
"Look, it's Santa and his little helper."
Izzie surveyed the chaos. "Hey, are those my cookies? Those are MY cookies! And please tell me that those are not the Christmas present I put under the tree because it's not yet Christmas Day, it's not even Christmas Eve! It's the 5th of December, what sort of person opens Christmas presents on the 5th of December?"
"Now Santa's upset. Shoot," Cristina quipped. Izzie threw her jacket and her hat on a chair, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Did you at least like them?"
Both women nodded, and Izzie looked somewhat pleased. The blonde tugged at her reindeer jumper and took it off, exposing a bit of toned stomach in the process.
Cristina plucked the black marker from the pockets of her jeans and took the list, scribbling on it and then handing it over to Meredith again.
"She is an underwear model."
Meredith nodded. "But Addison doesn't go on there, do you hear me?"
"Fine."
"What do you have there?" George asked, his curiosity rising.
"Sexiest Surgeons Alive List - Seattle Grace style," Meredith offered and grinned until Cristina's elbow connected with her stomach. "Shush, Mer!"
"Let me see!" George plonked down next to Meredith, and extended his hands for the list, snapping impatiently.
Cristina shook her head, her black curls accidentally swishing into Meredith's face, but George had already snatched the list from Meredith's hands.
Izzie crouched down and leaned over his shoulder to read along with him, a triumphant grin spreading on her face. "Thanks guys, I appreciate it." George frowned, checking the list again, and again, and after a minute, he hollered:
"What do you mean, Izzie on the fourth place, and I'm on the last! Izzie doesn't even have a penis! I have a penis! I have a PENIS!"
Long after George had left for Callie's to sulk for a little while, and Izzie had gone to bed, Meredith and Cristina were still sitting on the kitchen floor, sleeping huddled up to another and in a way, celebrating their very own kind of Christmas.
***
The End