1
"Oh, come on! Not here either?!" Leonard shouted. "We've been to three places already!"
It was early December in the small town called Enterprise, and Leonard was beginning to wonder if they were going to have a Christmas tree this year. They'd even left their town and gone to the big city to look, but had failed to find one. Again. It seemed that all the places which in previous years had had trees were sold out or just not open. It was a bit ridiculous, in Leonard's opinion. It wasn't as though it was the week before Christmas; if it were, he'd understand the lack of trees. As it was, however, it hadn't even snowed yet, and the only reasons any Christmas decorations were out was either because people had gotten the jump on decorating, or because of the fact that Christmas was used in marketing entirely too early.
Leonard had thought they were ahead of the game by getting a tree this early. With two younger siblings in high school, one in middle school, and one in college, not to mention the fact that he himself was in medical school. Exams were coming up soon, and once they started, there would be no time to get a tree and decorate it. Spock had in fact complained that he was unable to take the afternoon off (not that he would every use that term; he'd remind them that he was simply claiming that he was stating the illogical nature of taking time off from studying for exams). The combined might of James' cajoling, Kevin's teasing, and Pavel's puppy eyes had managed to shut him up for once, though he had been working through math problems the whole way to the city.
"We have terrible luck, don't we?" James asked hypothetically, tone still his usually even one. Very few things in life caused James angst; Leonard (and their parents) had been very grateful that his teenage years had not been an emotional rollercoaster of tantrums and moodiness.
"Guess so, Jim," Leonard replied morosely, sighing. He didn't quite possess the same sunny disposition as his brother. Admittedly, James was not the one driving everyone around from place to place. That would dampen anyone's mood. As long as Spock kept his mouth shut, he'd probably be able to stay relatively-
"James and Leonard, luck has nothing to do with our circumstances. Luck is an illogical and probably nonexistent quantity," Spock spoke up. Whether the boy was capable of sensing Leonard's bad mood or was simply testy himself, it certainly did the trick.
"Dammit, Spock!" Leonard snapped as the seven boys walked back to the car, treeless again.
Author's Note: This is the first time I'll try to publish a relatively Christmas-themed fic, whether it's on this profile or my old one. Wish me luck with publishing-I have twelve chapters to upload between now and the 25th. At least I've got them all written...
Anyway, in case you didn't know already, this takes place in the ASTCE (A Small Town Called Enterprise)-verse. It's a sort-of high school AU with the characters from TOS, TNG, and VOY. Since no characters from TNG or VOY appear in this fic, and only the ASTCE equivalents of Jean-Luc and Katie are mentioned, this is being filed under TOS. In the TOS stories, all the main male characters and Kevin Riley (because Riley is hilarious and awesome) are brothers. Leonard is the oldest, followed by Scotty, followed by James and Spock (who are fraternal twins), followed by Hikaru, followed by Kevin, followed by Pavel. Their parents work internationally (one of the reasons Hikaru and Pavel are both adopted), partly because I just don't know which set of parents of the main characters they'd represent, and party because I enjoy the the thought of a twenty-something Leonard McCoy having to deal with six younger siblings. Nyota Uhura is not related to them because I do not write incest.
These twelve chapters were originally part of a larger work based on the song 'The Twelve Pains of Christmas'. Alas, I haven't gotten the rest written up yet. Perhaps I'll publish those story arcs another Christmas. Assuming I ever finish them. On the bright side, the parts I did finish make for a complete, if rather sparse, story.
Enjoy, and please review! The ASTCE-verse has always thrived on suggestions.