All in a day's work

‚Pass the knife please.'

‚Uhuh.'

‚Have any duct tape left?'

‚Don't know, better check in the basement.'

'Come on man, you go, I went the last three times we needed something.'

'I'm busy cutting, can't you see? This is a delicate procedure.'

'Fine, I'll go! But next time we run out of anything, I'll kick you down the stairs myself.'

'Shut up. I've been working my ass off all afternoon. Freaking sneaking around so that no one would notice, deflecting, dodging calls. We need to finish up here ASAP!'

'Yeah yeah, I'm on it. Just a few more boxes to go.'

Aiden shot his brother one furious glance as he disappeared down the stairs before resuming his work. Damn this was difficult. Precision cutting had never been his strong suit. After a few more minutes he could finally set down the knife and pick up the scissors. He was almost done.

'Well, the bad news is, we're running out of packaging paper.' Ethan commented when he settled next to his brother.

'Is there any good news?' Aiden asked while concentrating on the task at hand.

'I'll let you know when I think of anything.' His twin shrugged.

'Okay, check this out.' Aiden straightened out his back and lifted the result of his work.

Ethan stared at the paper chain his brother was holding up.

'It's cool.' He commented when he saw Aiden's expectant expression. His brother scowled before lowering the cut outs.

'What pattern is it?' He asked.

'No clue, honestly.' Ethan admitted, deadpan.

'Screw you.' His twin replied angrily. 'I spent the entire afternoon cutting these out.'

'It isn't my fault you suck at it.' Ethan shot back. 'We'll have to take them though. We have to start decorating and preparing the Christmas tree before everyone gets back…'

'You sure there was no easier way to get into Scott's pack?' Aiden sighed.

'Nothing has been going on in this town for weeks.' Ethan spread his hands. 'Nothing. Now if we don't have a couple of werewolves we can beat up to show him our loyalty, we'll have to make an impact on his everyday life.'

'And you sure he won't mind us breaking into his house to prove our loyalty?'

For once Ethan was at a loss for words. That fact alone satisfied his brother, he grinned before continuing the conversation.

'So what have you been doing while I was obviously butchering paper?'

Ethan proudly produced the presents he had packed. This time it was Aiden who was faced with his brother's absolute lack of talent.

'Wow. We really suck at this whole Christmas thing, don't we?' He said. Clearly not the comment Ethan was expecting. The werewolf stared at the clumsily wrapped boxes and gave them an annoyed shove.

'It's the thought that counts, right?' He snapped and Aiden rolled his eyes.

'Yes. Absolutely. Question is, what thought will pop into Scott's head once he sees all this?'

'Nevermind that for now. Let's just get on with it.'

For the next hour or so, the twins were busy decorating the McCall's living room. Finally their haphazard decorations hung all over the place, the Christmas tree was standing, even if it was in danger of falling over and the presents were placed underneath it, some of them used to support the tree and prevent it from collapsing. When they were done the pair of them stared at their handiwork. Neither of them could say they were impressed but at least it was done.

'All in a day's work, don't you think?' Aiden grinned, while crossing his arms in front of his chest.

'Sure smartass.' Ethan replied. 'So, would you be up for doing this again?'

His brother shot him a horrified glance.

'Not a chance.'

'Thought so.' Ethan looked around once more. 'Clearly all we can hope for is that they take pity on us when they return.'

'If everything fails, remember, this was your idea.' Aiden glanced at him. Ethan was about to answer with some nasty remark when the key turned in the door. They both swirled around and locked their faces in a mask of serious cheer as Melissa McCall stepped through her front door. A yelp escaped her when she saw the two werewolves but a cry of horror followed it as she saw the mess her living room had become.

'What on earth…?' She started, her stunned demeanor quickly being overshadowed by her anger.

Aiden and Ethan stared at one another before pointing towards each other.

'It was his idea.'