What Christmas Means to Me, or Strange Carolers
Author's Disclaimer: No, I don't own Strange Magic, or any of the songs mentioned. All rights go to their respective owners. It's time to meet everyone with lots of introductions, and start the Butterfly Bog fun with some nerding out, through Christmas songs. I hope you enjoy!
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Chapter 2: This Christmas
Hang all the mistletoe:
I'm gonna get to know you better
This Christmas.
…..
Fireside is blazing bright;
We're caroling through the night.
And this Christmas, will be
A very special Christmas, for me.
"What?! You did what?!"
Marianne raised her hands and voice as she spoke to Dawn. She had not meant to be so abrupt with Dawn, but there was harmless flirting that would only affect Dawn, and then there was forcing everyone else to come along, especially when one person particularly hated the reason why they were singing.
Dawn looked appropriately cowed for several moments, apologizing for not telling her sooner. Once Marianne hugged and forgave her sister, Dawn was back to normal cheerful self, happy to explain more.
"So, I was walking through Main Square admiring Christmas Town, when suddenly, I ran into this really, really tall guy! He was tall, dark, mysterious, and even apologized to me! I thought I'd try to flirt with him, but he got away before I could!"
Marianne gave Dawn another disapproving look before Dawn could continue. Dawn breezed over Marianne's looks, completely used to them after seeing them from the time she started dating boys.
"So, I tried to follow the guy, and I heard one of his friends mention that they were carolers, and that they needed more women, especially sopranos. I couldn't not say something! It was perfect! We could bond over Christmas carols during the Christmas season. We'll get to know each other so well. It doesn't get more romantic than that," gushed Dawn with a sigh and flutter.
"I still can't believe he agreed to let you," said Marianne, disbelief in her face.
"Well, he didn't right away," replied Dawn nonchalantly. "He still needed more women, so I thought that since you were a good singer, not to mention the triplets we hang out with, you wouldn't mind joining it. Think of all the fun we'll have together singing together. And we get to meet new, awesome people!"
Dawn's face was radiant as spoke of all the good things that would come of them joining this group of carolers, besides her getting to know Bog. Marianne hated having to dim the light, but it was absolutely necessary now. She took Dawn's hand and looked her in the eye as she spoke.
"That's great, Dawn, but you forgot one important thing: I don't do Christmas. Especially all that infernally cheery Christmas music."
"But, but," stammered Dawn, her eyes glistening, "You know the most songs of all! You're the best with them! You'd be so good in that group, and it wouldn't be the same without you. Please? For me?" she begged, taking both of Marianne's hands and squeezing them. "Roland won't be allowed to join. I promise. Maybe you'll actually learn to love Christmas again. Have you ever considered that?"
Marianne laughed a loud belly laugh at her sister's words. When she recovered, she made her face as serious as possible. Knowing Dawn, she would just beg and give puppy dog eyes, guilting Marianne into it eventually. Besides, it would probably be fun to see Dawn try for a guy who seemed uninterested in Dawn, for a change, and just to keep an eye on Dawn. Maybe it would open Dawn's eyes to Sunny at long last, who was ever faithful in the friendzone.
"I doubt I'll learn to love Christmas, let alone like. But, because it's you, I'll do it. But I'm in charge."
"Sure thing! Anything for you, Marianne! Oh, thank you so much for doing this for me!" squealed Dawn as she captured her older sister in a bear hug. "We're going to have so much fun!"
After that, Dawn left, intent on finding Sunny and the triplets so that she could convince them to join her. Marianne went to her room, searching for her pitch pipe from college. Once she had that, she went to bed, secretly hoping that the mystery would not call Dawn back.
Bog was also hoping, but for him it was more that Dawn would not call back, and that his mother would call off the whole caroling idea. Knowing Stuff and Thang, they would do as told and have a whole plan laid out, and he did not want to go through with it.
Morning came, and still Griselda persisted in having Bog do the "caroling thing" that his employees had thought of. But now, she expanded on the idea, giving Bog much to think about.
"Think of this way, Boggy: if you do really well, I might just consider retiring and letting you take full control of the company. It's high time I did, but I'd like to know that you won't be a loveless, lonely Grinch your whole life, taking it out on our employees. Just try with this, okay? I know you hate it, but I think this could really help you. And maybe your love life, too," she finished hopefully.
"I'm leaving now, Mother," said Bog, exiting upon hearing mention of his love life. "But I'll take into consideration what you said."
Griselda smiled a toothy smile, and Bog went into his office to listen to what Stuff and Thang had to say. Just as he expected, they had a whole plan of attack of what to sing, how to practice, and ideas for gigs to do before the big extravaganza. By doing those, they might get good PR for the company and raise some more money for charity than just the prize.
"You actually put a lot of thought into this," said a surprised Bog at the end. "I'll contact that Dawn girl and see if she changed her mind. If she doesn't, then we'll start Thursday with all the horribly cheerful music I hate so much."
Dawn was having dinner with Marianne when she got the call from Bog, and Marianne had to cover her ears at the sheer amount of excitement in Dawn's voice as she spoke. Marianne felt bad for the dude, but not for long, seeing as he was going to become the originator of all her torture this holiday season. Once a Thursday practice day was agreed upon, Dawn tried to ask about him more, but he had to rush off after that, much to Dawn's disappointment.
By Thursday, though, all of Dawn's excitement was back, and she was bouncy all day. She bounced at work, at lunch, and even in Sunny's car as he drove the two sisters to Bog's home, the triplet girls following behind in their own car.
Once they arrived, Dawn was at the door in a blink, knocking loud enough to make others across the street open their doors in wonder. Soon, a short, skinny guy with light brown hair and a wide chin opened the door, a genuine smile on his face as he greeted Dawn.
"Thang! It's so good to see you again! Thang, these are my friends," said Dawn, introducing the guy in a t-shirt and jeans to the rest of the group.
Once those introductions were made, the group hurried inside to get warm, where the rest of the future carolers sat around a fireplace, plus one more. The addition was sitting a rocking chair, knitting with a matronly air and humming Christmas songs, her bright red hair matching the stocking she was knitting. She got up once all the guests appeared, making Marianne realize just how short this woman was, even in her green designer heels and dress.
"So which one of you lovely ladies is Dawn?" she asked, coming up and scrunching the cheeks of Sunny. Sunny blushed and mumbled something, but was ignored when Dawn spoke up.
"I am, and you must be Boggy's mother! He said we were practicing at his home tonight. I must say, I love your head piece! It's so festive!"
Only Dawn would comment on the jewelry, it being a white circlet with snowflakes going around. At least it had snowflakes, which appeased Marianne a little. It was a lot better than bells or candy canes, or something else festive and silly.
"Thank you, dear, you're too sweet! Boggy, I like her!" she said, calling out to her son, who was burying his face in his hands.
"Mother, not here!"
"Fine, spoilsport," replied Griselda. She turned back to Dawn and the others saying, "I'm Griselda, your hostess tonight. I'm also Bog's mother, as this little angel has pointed out. Welcome to our home, and please eat! It's not often I get to meet friends of my son."
"Mother, I don't even know them," said Bog, frustration leaking out of his words as he ran his hands through his hair.
"But you will!" sing-songed Griselda before she waddled into the kitchen to get more hot chocolate and cookies.
Once Griselda left, Bog stood up, ready to continue the introductions so they could get to know each other better. As he stood, Marianne realized that Dawn had not been exaggerating when she said that Bog was super tall, like a giant, pointy, black umbrella. He certainly dressed like it, his dark, ripped jeans and black sweater sticking to this thin, muscular frame. Poor guy did not realize what he had signed up for in agreeing to let Dawn join, and Sunny was going to have it bad until this crush passed.
Bog introduced the rest of the guys, Marianne was amazed at the sheer size of Brutus, and the pasty whiteness of the resident comedian and programmer, Imp. Then, Bog introduced everyone to Stuff, who was short, but still taller than Thang. Where Thang was thin and wiry, Stuff was round and mean-looking, except when she smiled. Granted, the only time she seemed to smile was when Thang did something silly or messed up, but smile she did on occasion. Her white smile contrasted greatly with her lime green hair, the random streak of black hair popping in. Her shirt matched her hair, and coupled with her black jeans, she made quite the contrast to the warm colors of Thang.
Once Bog finished with his introductions, Marianne took her turn to introduce Sunny and the triplets. Sunny wiggled his foot a bit and stared at the floor whenever the attention was not on him as he tried to not look at Dawn staring at Bog. With his cap pulled over his face, Sunny looked ready to disappear into the woodwork, his overalls matching the color of the house's wooden floors.
When all were situated and holding mugs of hot chocolate, Bog began to explain what they had signed up for.
"So, the reason why you're all here is to sing…Christmas carols," he finally said, grounding the last two words out and grimacing as though they were painful to say.
Marianne smiled a little, knowing exactly how he felt.
"As it so happens, my company always raises money for charity during the Christmas season, and I'm in charge of it this year. Stuff and Thang had the terrib-terrific idea to sing Christmas carols by entering the Caroling Extravaganza that the city is hosting this year. It's far more money than we've ever given before, and it seems simple enough, given the simplicity of the songs. With that in mind, I'm going to put on a CD, and we'll just practice these songs-"
"Wait, hold on a minute," said Marianne, getting out of her seat. "Have you never sung carols before? Do you know how this works? How do we even know that you'll be a good leader?"
Bog stiffened, seeing the challenge in Marianne's fiery brown eyes, not to mention the disbelief in her voice. He did not like having his leadership be challenged, and Stuff and Thang cringed, knowing what Bog would do next. He was never one to stand down in a fight.
"As it so happens, Princess," said Bog, sarcasm oozing, "I have gone caroling before. Many times when I was younger. Yes, you don't use music, but I figured it'd be a good warm-up, unless you've got a better way, All Knowledgeable One."
"Well, as it just so happens," replied Marianne, laying on the sarcasm as thickly as possible while getting closer to Bog, "I have my pitch pipe with me because I come prepared. As leader of my group-"
"There will be one and only one leader in this group," interrupted Bog. "I'm the leader. You'll listen to me since it's my company and head on the line-"
"But we don't know you," cut in Marianne, putting her hands on her hips. "You barely know us, whereas I do. I know what my friends are capable of. You don't. We'll co-lead-"
"We'll do nothing of the sort," said Bog, anger making his face get red and his hands to fist up. He was ready to fight, even if she was a girl.
"Need any help diffusing the situation, Sir?" asked Thang helpfully.
"No," intoned Bog, his eyes still staring down Marianne.
"Do you know what it requires to lead a caroling group? You have to have thorough knowledge of all sorts of songs, the ability to carry a tune-"
An evil grin came over Bog's face as he leaned in and towered over Marianne. He grabbed his cane and held it up to his mouth, its head becoming a makeshift microphone. With that in hand, he began to sing the song he identified with most, his rich tenor voice filling the room with booming sound.
You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
You really are a heel!
You're as cuddly as a cactus,
And as charming as an eel,
Mr. Grin-inch!
You're a bad banana,
With a greasy, black peel!"
When he finished singing, all were quiet. Finally, after much amazement at hearing his voice perfectly in tune without any warm-up, Marianne got out, "Right. Well then, clearly you have the voice for it, but that's only one aspect that's important to have."
Bog wanted to throw his hands in the air and strangle her for being so stubborn. He rubbed his head instead. Why could she not just compliment him and sit down so they could move on with rehearsal? They were wasting precious time!
"So what makes you so qualified, Princess? How many years have you been singing? Do you know the songs that well? Do you even know all the words to 'Jingle Bells'?"
Marianne threw her head back and laughed. "Of course I do. Who doesn't?"
"All five verses?" smiled Bog with deadly intensity.
"Would you like me to demonstrate the fourth verse for you in exquisite detail?" asked Marianne with extra sweetness. "I'm more than happy to help you trip and fall over before I laugh at you."
Bog took several steps toward Marianne, his demeanor becoming more menacing as he made himself taller. Thang took the opportunity to speak and said, "Need any help, Sir?"
"No," said Bog again, still staring at a smiling Marianne.
Before Bog could continue, Marianne asked, "And what about you, Boggy? Do you know all the verses to O Come All Ye Faithful?"
Bog rolled his eyes at her as she continued, "In Latin?"
For a moment, Bog stopped making eye contact with Marianne would swear that he was mouthing the words to himself. After a minute, he said, "Yes. They've been drilled into my head by the sheer number of times I hear it on the radio, thanks to my employees and mother."
"You're welcome, Boggy!" shouted his mother from the kitchen.
"I doubt you've heard it as much as I have," said Marianne. "It's never-ending in my life. I still can't believe I used to like listening to the same fifteen songs over and over again."
"Name the twelve gifts from the song, and not in the song order," challenged Bog, folding his arms and smiling.
"Easy as pie," said Marianne, trying to intimidate Bog by walking in a circle around him as she spoke. "A partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds, five gold rings."
Marianne paused for a moment, and Bog smiled. He taunted, "Forgot already, Tough Girl, O Fearless Leader who knows all songs?"
"Of course not!" said Marianne in a rush. "I just needed to catch my breath. Six geese a-laying, seven swans a-swimming, eight maids a-milking."
Marianne paused again, this time to make sure that she got the gift and number matched up. The last few always messed her up.
Bog smugly wiggled his hips and piped in, "Nine ladies dancing, perhaps?"
"I was getting there, Oh Impatient King," drawled Marianne as she smiled and rolled her eyes. Once the eye roll was done, she trained her gaze back on Bog and finished up with ten lords-a-leaping, eleven pipers piping, and twelve drummers drumming.
As Bog taunted Marianne to continue, Dawn found herself rethinking whether she should be pursuing Bog. All his talk about hating Christmas made her realize that it would not work for them, and then when she saw him wiggle his hips at Marianne, she could not help but wonder if he was flirting with her.
The fact that Marianne was smiling while uttering Christmas music was a small miracle unto itself, but to see her get into it with Bog like that… maybe she should suggest Marianne date him instead. They would be cute together in all their Christmas-hating glory.
"There, almighty Bog King, I said all but one. Happy now?" she deadpanned.
"Never. But not bad for a wee Princess like yourself," responded Bog in kind, making Marianne blush. Bog was so pleased to have someone to argue with who was worthy of his time and effort, and who was just as knowledgeable as him. The fact that the person was female had the prettiest brown eyes he had ever seen, contained in such an expressive, passionate face, was just icing on the cake. He could get lost in those eyes, in all their fiery, sarcastic wonder.
After much prodding and whispering with Stuff, Thang asked, "Sir? Are we ready to begin practice now? It's getting late. You two could discuss leadership roles later, right?"
Both Bog and Marianne suddenly realized that they had scant inches between their faces and bodies, Bog leaning over and Marianne on her tiptoes, the better to meet one another in battle. At that, both took unsteady steps backward until they both leaned against opposite walls.
"Yes, I think it's time to practice," said Bog, gesturing toward Marianne. "And if Tough Girl over there will give the right note for Jingle Bells, we'll start with that for warm-up."
After that, the two motley groups transformed into a chorus of one, with the occasional stop of adjustment from Bog and Marianne. Bog made sure that everyone had the right words and stood properly, while Marianne made sure that their sound had the right blend of voices. Marianne also tried to suggest songs, but Bog held onto that duty, sometimes conceding to Marianne by picking the songs she suggested.
After another week of no clear decisions made regarding leadership while practicing (with yet more challenges from Marianne and offers of help from Thang), Bog announced at the end of the practice that his mother had found their group a place to perform for the first time that Saturday, at a retirement home. They were willing to donate as well, depending on how well a job they did of drawing in the audience. Marianne was surprised.
"You want us to perform already? We've only had two practices!"
"But they were good practices, and we blend well. You said so yourself. We need to do this, the sooner the better. We need to get our name out there. I'll make a list of songs that we'll stick to, and we'll be fine," said Bog, his tone of voice brooking no opposition.
"Fine?" asked Marianne, her voice rising and ignoring Bog's body language. "What's fine about you having all the power? I want to make my own list."
"Go ahead. We'll compare on the day of. I doubt it'll be too different," answered Bog, shaking his head.
"What about clothing, Bog? Shouldn't we match?" continued Marianne. "What kind of dress code should we have?"
Dawn piped in and said, "Why don't we all wear red and a Santa hat? It'll be fun! We could be Santa's Carolers."
Both Bog and Marianne laughed, using the other for support. In unison, they said, "Santa hats? Really?"
Marianne added, "Can it be any more cheesy than that?"
"I don't think so," said Bog, putting a hand out to give Marianne a high five for her comment. Marianne slapped his outstretched hand, hard.
"I like the idea," said Sunny, standing up for Dawn.
After that, all the others agreed with Sunny and Dawn. Once all others stated their desire and liking for the name, Bog and Marianne paused, not thrilled by the name or costumes.
They really did not like it when Imp chimed in, "Yeah, we'll be Santa's Carolers, led by Santa and Mrs. Claus themselves, as our devoted and unyielding leaders. Very fitting."
"Oh! I have a white wig you can borrow at home, Marianne!" cried out Dawn. "You'll look adorable in it! And I bet Boggy can go find a white beard to wear. You'd be so cute together!"
"Cute? Us? No way," said Bog and Marianne in unison.
"Boggy, you're doing it! It's for a good cause," said Griselda, popping her head in.
"And I'm forcing you to do it as well, Marianne. Boggy can't dress up on his own; he needs a Mrs. Claus," said Dawn with resolution.
Realizing a losing battle when they saw it, Bog and Marianne stopped fighting the tide of opinion in favor of them dressing up, even if they were the two least spirited people there. After that, the group split up for the night, preparing for work and their first gig the day after that. It was going to be busy.
As Marianne picked up her purse, Bog found himself not wanting to see Marianne leave. It was odd, considering he hardly knew her. He was pretty sure that she hated Christmas as much as he did, but he officially he did not know. Nonetheless, he suddenly realized that he needed to talk to her to make her stay a few extra minutes. Anything to see the way she smiled at him when they fought.
He took hold of her wrist and stammered, "Marianne, I, uh, I was wondering something." He had no idea what he was going to say, but it was a start.
"Yes?" replied Marianne, turning toward him, concern in her eyes. "What is it, Bog? Is something wrong?"
"No, ah, no. Nothing is wrong. It's just, ah, I was wondering if you were… actually going to wear that wig on Saturday."
"Oh, that? Yes, most likely. I'll let Dawn help me get all dressed up for the part. Why?"
Bog hated the idea of Marianne wearing a wig and hiding her dark, wild looks. But there was no way he was going to say that to her. That was a terrible, awful idea.
"Just because there are lots of images of Mrs. Claus being old doesn't mean you have to be old. It's nonsense. Why can't Mrs. Claus be young? It'd just be such a shame to hide your hair like that. It deserves to be seen," said Bog, hating himself for saying such a thing as he blushed. Way to be obvious about how he felt about her hair and make himself look weird.
It was now Marianne's turn to blush, a lot. There were many things she expected from Bog, but not that. It was sweet, but so out of place.
"Thanks, Bog. I'll, uh, mention that to Dawn. I'm sure she won't mind forgoing the wig since it's Santa himself asking, right?" she said, mock-punching Bog in the arm. The fact that her fist lingered on top of his arm was ignored by both studiously in favor of smiling at one another like oblivious idiots.
They might have stayed like that longer were it not for Thang coming out of the kitchen and dropping a mug on the tiled kitchen, the mug making a loud thud as it landed. Thang was shocked to see Bog actually smiling and so close to a woman, especially Marianne after all her challenges. Both Griselda and Dawn had tried to make him not leave the kitchen, but he had gone anyway. The two women in question just sighed, as though their favorite toy had been taken from them.
When Bog and Marianne heard the thud, they jumped away from one another, as though burnt by the other. They looked anywhere but at the person in front of them until Dawn waltzed in, telling Marianne that it was time to go, seeing as the car was finally all warmed up by Sunny.
"Well, I have to go now. Car's waiting and all that. Bye!" squeaked Marianne, her voice too high for her liking but still not moving.
"Okay, see you in a couple days. Stay safe out there. We're supposed to get snow, finally. May all your…. days be white," stumbled out Bog, looking down.
Marianne touched his arm again, making Bog look into her eyes and see her smile.
"Thanks, Bog. You, too."
At that, Marianne scurried out the door, much to Bog's confusion and gladness. Griselda started humming "Joy to the World".
In the car, Dawn said, "Does Boggy realize that your favorite part of winter and Christmas is snow?"
"Bog," corrected Marianne for Bog. "I don't think so. I think that's just Bog being himself."
"How cute and perfect!" sighed Dawn.
Marianne did not dignify that phrase with a response and instead focused her energy on looking for "White Christmas" on the radio as Sunny drove home. Dawn wondered why Marianne sighed when the song came on. She had no idea it was because Marianne was imagining Bog's face lighting up when she touched his arm at the end. His normally grim, sharp face was softened with a smile, and the dark brown stubble that always seemed present on Bog's face seemed a little less scratchy in that moment (not that she imagined the scratchiness of his chin, or putting her hand through his dark hair to see if it was that easy to mess up as Bog made it seem).
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of town, Roland stumbled out of the house of his latest conquest. As he drove home and cursed the snow, he considered what new places he could try to corner Marianne in to make her listen to him. He had a new song to sing to her, and he was determined to win her back by Christmas, by any means necessary. "White Christmas" came on the radio, making him change the channel to avoid hearing the singer curse by wishing more snow upon his home.
In another home, Bog fell asleep with a smile on his face as he listened to the same song. Had anyone seen him, he would deny that he was smiling, or that Marianne was the cause of his smiling. But smile he did, especially as he considered Marianne dressed all in red and in a Santa hat. She would be different, and cute.
Next Chapter: Carol of the Bells
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Author's Notes: Did I mention that I ship Bog and Marianne something fierce? I had way too much fun writing that chapter of them fighting/flirting. Also, for the record, while I don't know all the verses of "Jingle Bells" or "Adeste Fideles", I definitely do know "The Twelve Days of Christmas". I've done a lot of caroling in my time, if you hadn't figured it out. Thanks so much for reading/reviewing/following! I hope you enjoyed!
SVJohnson8721: Thanks! I'll need that luck later, as the weeks pass. It's easy to write right now. Thanks for reading and reviewing!