Thanks to Sparky She Demon and Hannah Kelfrod! Sorry for an update lag, my computer time has been busy with preparing for a poetry contest I am entering. Wish me luck! Sorry for this mostly nonsense chapter as well though...

Wrap It Up

It was time for the final preparations of the Dictionary. Will was in the process of printing it at the moment. Tesla was trying very hard - really, he was - to not grin smugly as he knew all of his definitions Will had decided against were at that moment being printed. The only thing which kept him from doing this was that he knew John's had gotten in as well. Everything has a price, he supposed. Besides, John's would mostly be insults directed at him, and not comments directed at Helen.

John came in, looking very unhappy, with a seemingly indifferent Henry. At second glance, Nikola noticed that Henry was excited. And - could it be? - looking a little smug. "Do I have to do this?" John whined.

"Yep, I'm helping will out with the printing, and Tesla is... erm, Tesla is..." Henry looked quizically to see, what indeed he was doing.

"Watching you all running around looking like idiots," he drawled.

"Well then, you can help me." John looked self-satisfied and put a large shopping bag down on the table.

Nikola knew John must have been assigned a bad task to want his help. "No, I think I'll stay here and watch you humiliate yourselves. Which is a most promising prospect today."

"Er, I have to go help him with the printing. You guys can work it out." Henry knew full well that 'working it out', even for the smallest thing, could well result in fists and blood. Nikola wasn't particularly in the mood for that today, Helen's dare to not drink her wine or be rude to her staff for a week being over, he was mulling his latest experiment over with a glass of wine.

"Alright Johnny, what demeaning task did you get?" he sauntered over.

"Wrapping." John muttered.

"Ah, that's not so bad. So you won't be needing my help -" but John caught his arm as he made to leave the room.

"No, no you don't. You are going to work with the bows and ribbon. And the card. And I deal with the tape." John made the comment sound threatening.

"Bows! Card? Why don't I get the tape?" Nikola threw up his hands, and John thought privately that this was the most distressed he had seen Nikola of late.

"Because you're helping me."

"That isn't a reason," he countered.

But John would not touch the bows or ribbon, or the card, so Nikola was forced to comply. He spent about five minutes grinding his teeth and glaring at John before he finally got to work.

*.*

When Helen got into the room, it was a most strange scene that awaited her.

The backstory to it was that Nikola had gotten sick of the ribbons, and had moved onto the card. He had proceeded to write very flirtatious comments in it. John said he would give it to Henry if Nikola didn't do something more proper. Nikola had then gotten up and tried to leave the room with the bottle of wine in his hand, saying, 'proper isn't really my thing'.

John was now chasing a very distressed Nikola around with pieces of tape and bows. Some of them were stuck to him, a few on his hair. These seemed to annoy him the most.

"They suit you, really!"

"They're red! And on my hair!" Nikola wailed.

Helen stayed silent for a moment and mulled the situation over. Finally she decided to put this to a stop with a small clearing of her throat.

"Wrap it up, my friends." Was her only comment, apart from raising her eyebrows at the both of them.

Once she had left, they both sat down on the floor. Nikola pulled a red bow out of his hair, and said in a very non vampiric voice, "Ow."

"Get over it, Nikola." John rolled his eyes.

"I'm covered in red bows and I'm supposed to get over it? How do you like it?" Suddenly John was covered in shreds of ribbon, all sticking to him.

They were silent for a moment. "I think red suits me," John said mildly.

Nikola smirked. "I prefer blood red."

"Ah, that's why you had no fun with these ribbons." They were a more pink-red than true red, John had noticed.

"Johnny, what do you say we redecorate this a little, changing some of the color themes?" Nikola proposed innocently.

"I think we'd better wrap it up before Will gets back." John grinned.

Nikola poured him a glass of wine. "Cheers."

And so it was that they sat, amidst fluttering pieces of ribbon - and some glass shards somehow - on the floor, drinking wine. The Sanctuary was never dull.

"Cheers."

"Cheers."