Coal, Boxes and Kittens
I know that I'm being an unfair writer by still not being done with two stories, but I was inspired to do a Christmas story. It's Christmas Eve on Fleet Street, and late at night a sneaky thought comes across Mrs. Lovett's mind. It certainly wouldn't stop him from killing people, but she couldn't help but think it would certainly be fun to do. What is our dear baker planning on doing to our demon barber, and how will it work out? Anyway, hope everyone enjoys this.
Nellie Lovett sat on her settee, watching the fire slowly die down. Story books that she had been reading to Toby were stacked up next to the settee, and Toby was fast asleep with his head in her lap. She fidgeted a bit and Toby stirred. "Oh, sorry to wake you Toby love."
Toby yawned and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "S'alright mum, I'm goin' to bed now." He rose and hugged her. "I'm too tired to even need gin." Nellie giggled and gave her adopted son a small hug. She heard his door close and she quietly walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass to pour a bit of gin into. She poured it and sat down in the booth she'd pushed Sweeney into the first day he'd walked into her shop. As she drank she thought about the barber upstairs. She thought about if he'd like the gift she had gotten him, since his last one had broken when he had thrown it against the wall. She wondered if he would ever be happy again or if he'd ever want to go to the sea with her. These thoughts and more plagued her the entire time she drank until she couldn't stand it anymore and rose to go to bed. Mrs. Lovett was in her parlor when she turned to look at the fire that had now died down to nothing. Suddenly a smirk formed on her face, if Sweeney could play tricks, why couldn't she? She looked around quickly then grabbed the tool she used to move around all of the ash and coal from the fire. She picked a small bit and quietly took Sweeney's stocking that she had made for him off of its hook. She giggles a bit and whispered "Demon Barbers aren't nice." Then she silently retired to her bedroom.
The next morning Nellie awoke to Toby screaming hysterically. He ran into her bedroom and pulled on her arm. "WAKE UP MUM, THERE ARE PRESENTS!" Nellie smiled and got out of bed. "Hurry, we gotta go open 'em up!"
Nellie patted him on the head and said "Sure thing Toby, I think I'll just go up and tell Mr. Todd to come down. We'll have some breakfast and then, we can open the presents." Toby huffed but nodded in agreement. She put on her warmest coat, walked outside and up the staircase to the tonsorial parlor. She made sure to knock first and upon hearing Sweeney's rough voice, walked inside. "Come on down Mr. T, we're having breakfast and then we're opening presents. Don't sit up here alone, come down with us." Sweeney made a low growling sound but grabbed his leather jacket anyway and followed Mrs. Lovett downstairs.
After the small group ate their breakfast Toby went running to his stocking and pulled it off of the fireplace. He reached inside and pulled out some candy and small toys (and no, none of the toys bit, snapped, exploded or scared Toby). Sweeney reached into his but felt nothing there until he reached way down and felt something rough feeling. Mrs. Lovett grinned as he pulled out the rough black lump. Now Toby didn't know a whole lot about Christmas presents but Nellie had told him about this. He pointed at the lump and said "Look mum, Mr. Todd was naughty."
Mrs. Lovett simply chuckled and nodded. Sweeney turned to face her as she leaned against the doorway between the pie shop and her parlor. "Very funny Mrs. Lovett" was all Sweeney said in a sarcastic tone. Mrs. Lovett just walked past him with a look of victory on her face.
Toby sat playing with some of the toys he'd gotten, the clothing he'd received were back in their boxes so there wouldn't be a mess. And a new bottle of gin that Sweeney had gotten him, upon Mrs. Lovett's request that he buy the boy something, was sitting on a high shelf in the pie shop. Mrs. Lovett looked at the tree and saw another present, one that she had been saving up for Sweeney as a surprise. She got down on her hand and knees, picked it up and handed it to the barber saying "Because your other one broke." Sweeney unwrapped it carefully and looked at the gift with a shocked expression. It was another box for his razors to replace the one he'd broken when he had thrown it against the wall and the hinge keeping the top on broke. Except this one was very different. It was bigger so that there was more room. This one was black as well but Sweeney couldn't help but notice that this had silver writing on it that read 'Mr. Todd's Friends.' Nellie smiled at him blushed a bit. "Do you like it Mr. T? I didn't put any of your friends in there yet, thought you'd like to do it."
Sweeney nodded slowly, still looking at the box with a surprised look on his face. All of a sudden a miracle, at least to Mrs. Lovett, occurred. A small smile speared on the demon barber's face. He looked at Mrs. Lovett and said "Thank you Mrs. Lovett, this is very, kind of you." Nellie nodded quickly and shivered slightly at the sight of Sweeney Todd not only smiling and thanking her, but also looking at her with not-so-angry eyes. A look that she hadn't seen in some time. "Oh, I almost forgot." Sweeney grabbed his jacket again and ran outside. Nellie and Toby just looked at each other and shrugged. A few minutes later Sweeney returned with a large gift, wrapped in red paper and with a large dark blue bow on top. "This, is for you Mrs. Lovett. I found it and it reminded me of you, the colors and the way it was… well you'll see." She was about to start unwrapping it when Sweeney spoke again. "Don't use it to get ahead of Mrs. Mooney though; it's not for those purposes."
Nellie raised an eyebrow at him and slowly began to unwrap the gift. All that was inside was a cardboard box. "Come on Mr. T. My older brother Erik used to do this to me all of the time. He'd just put smaller boxes inside bigger boxes as a trick. Don't you think you're a bit too mature for that?" Sweeney only smiled and shrugged. She rolled her eyes and opened the box, but suddenly her annoyed face turned to one of complete surprise. "Oh my God, Mr. T!" She reached into the box slowly and pulled out a little ball of fur. "Mr. Todd, she's adorable." Toby slowly walked over and pet the furry ball. Suddenly there was a small noise and Mrs. Lovett looked down to see that the kitten had woken up and was now looking up at her with large brown eyes.
Sweeney pointed at the cat "See, the eyes and the colors of the brown and black. I don't know, the dark colors just reminded me." Mrs. Lovett smiled, rose and wrapped one arm around Sweeney while the other held the small kitten. "I found her on Wednesday, when we had that big rain storm. I guess I felt some pity for it so I brought it here. Thought you'd like to have something to keep you entertained. And besides…" He reached over and pet the kitten under her chin, making her give out a small meow. "Cats are alright, when they're not in a pie." Nellie giggled and got back down on the floor to let Toby play with the small kitten.
A few days later Mrs. Lovett brought the kitten upstairs to show Sweeney the new collar she had bought for her. It was black with a small fake ruby dangling from it. "I named her Ruby Mr. Todd. I thought you'd like that, plus, look at the ruby hanging there."
Sweeney looked at it closely and smirked at the baker. "Teardrop shaped, like a dripping ruby."
Mrs. Lovett nodded and smiled. "I gave her a middle name too, for you." Sweeney crossed his arms. "Yes, her name's Ruby Lucy. I thought I'd give her that middle name for you."
Sweeney gave her a subtle smile and said "Thank you Mrs. Lovett. I'm glad that I can have some part of my wife still with me." Then he scratched Ruby under her shin and she gave him a small 'meow'.
So there you have it, another Sweeney Todd Christmas story for another year. About Sweeney liking Ruby and all, I thought that he deserved to have a bit of a heart at least. ^_^ Sweeney's new razor box sounds cool, lol. Sorry this whole Christmas story is one day late, but better one day late than never at all right? I know I haven't written in a while, no need to remind me. College keeps me busy, but I have a month off for this break so I should be able to do some writing. XD And yes, like I do many times I've some references in there. The part where Mrs. Lovett says "Demon Barbers aren't nice" is a quote spin off of Emilie Autumn's song "Gentlemen Aren't Nice." Why, because Emilie Autumn rocks and she kicks ass! Cheers to Emilie and all of my fellow plague rats wherever you may be lurking. And the part where I talk about Toby's toys not attacking him is yes, a Nightmare reference. XD So anyway, hope you enjoyed this little story and how was everyone's Christmas yesterday or whatever holiday you may celebrate, how was it? Mine was awesome, got some great gifts, watched a few awesome movies (A Christmas Story, Nightmare and Edward Scissorhands), and went to see my cousins for a few hours. How was yours, what did ya get, tell all? XD Peace, love and meat pies-NelliethePieAngel!