O Tannenbaum

Summary: Umm, there really isn't much to explain. Harmless and brief.
Rating: K
Disclaimer: Not mine, no money, you know the drill.

As the only two left in the squad room in the evening, Goren and Eames inherited the task of decorating the Christmas tree. Someone else had been charitable enough to put lights on; armed with ornaments, tinsel and candy canes, they took to the rest.

"Shouldn't we be singing carols?"

"You're welcome to," she returned evenly. "I don't think I will."

He shrugged. "Your loss." Tugging a few candy canes from a box, he hung them on the branches, humming in a low voice. "O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, wie treu sind deine Blätter . . ."

Well, at least that was one she recognized. Even if he had to sing it in German. "Tannenbaum is German for 'Christmas tree,' right?"

"Not exactly. See , because – well, baum does mean tree, but Tannenbaum is just a word for a fir tree that became commonly used in reference to Christmas trees. It originates from both German and Ashkenazic Jewish etymology; you see, Yiddish is actually just a form of German that branched off during the Renaissance, before the ich-Laut became used in German, which is why Yiddish only uses the ach-Laut." He paused. "Which is why it sounds so guttural."

"I lost you somewhere in there."

He stopped and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I got a little carried away."

"It's OK. I like to think I pick up knowledge from being around you. Osmosis works for me."

"You have the star, Eames?" She handed it to him, and he reached up, but even on his tiptoes, the highest branch was a few inches beyond his reach. "I'm not quite tall enough."

"Welcome to my world. Why do we have such a tall tree in here anyway?"

"It was donated. Here, you take this –" handing her the star, he pulled over an empty chair. "See if you can reach." She climbed onto the chair, taking the hand he offered, and reached up to place the star atop the tree. She wobbled slightly as she reached forward, and he quickly caught her around the waist to hold her steady as she perched the star in its place. "Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Here we go." He carefully set her back on the floor, pushing the chair back where he'd found it. "See? We can decorate a tree."

"As long as you pick me up."

"Partnerly cooperation."

"I feel like an elf."

"That's just because of your cheery abundance of Christmas spirit."

"Would you like to do the honors?" she grinned, holding up the plug for the lights. He took it with a flourish, crouching down by the outlet.

"Aaaaaand – there!" The lights flickered on, blinked twice, and promptly went out again. He looked up blankly, trying the plug again, getting no results, before he sighed and stood up. "It almost worked."

"We can catch serial killers, but we can't light up a tree."

"Well, Merry Christmas anyway."

"How would you say that in German?"

"Frohe Weihnachten. Or Fröhliche Weihnachten. They mean pretty much the same thing."

She nodded, handing him an extra candy cane. "I'll stick with 'Merry Christmas.'"

LE FIN