Ok, I have to admit, I seriously had fun writing this even if it sorta is kind of a boring chapter, but hey! It just gets weirder in the next chapter xp I was a little late in writing a christmas chapter since it's been CHAOS at my house so this next chapter will cover both Christmas and New Years so yeah .

WOOT~!

It's all about planning (Or lack thereof...)

*~Kiku~YenKin~*

This morning, as usual, I woke up early, made tea and breakfast for YenKin. There was such a thing as poor eating habits, but it was even worse for one to not eat at all in the morning! I went to wake the young man up only to find his blanket folded and his sheets neat and undisturbed from the previous morning but the room itself in a haphazard mess. Either YenKin had decided to redo the carpeting in his room with wrapping paper, or Saint Nick's elves had hit his room like a tornado. "I don't believe him sometimes. The rest of the house is near spotless and his room looks like he had a fight with some tissue paper and lost."

The sound of a knob being turned indicated someone in the shower. I have no idea how I missed that before. The door opened as my missing charge exited a moment later in his usual attire and a towel draped over his head.

"Morning Kiku. You're up kinda early."

"I'll assume that you're not fully awake yet," Kiku sighed before looking at the mass of awkwardly wrapped boxes by the door. "What is all the mess for?"

YenKin stared blankly at me for a few moments before recognition replaced it and a grin that could only mean he was plotting - or at least knew - something that I didn't.

"Dont worry, I'll clean it up later."

I couldn't quite place the suspicion on any one thing, but just the way that he smiled made me feel like the dirty little secret he was keeping so to speak would not end well. I had to admit though, I was a little curious as to what hid within the box labeled for me…

*~Little!Ivan~Vilkas~*

"Bowl?"

"Check!"

"Spoons?"

"Check!"

"Jello mix?"

"Check, check, check!"

"Ready to make some tasty desserts?"

"Da!"

Otets ruffled my hair as he handed me the boxes of instant jell-o mix and went to find a measuring cup. I tore open the box along with the little brown paper packet inside and fluffy dust puffed out into my face, making me cough. Otets set the measuring up down beside me and dusted off my cheeks.

"Careful Ivan. That's messy stuff."

"Yes Otets! We add now?"

"That's right," he chuckled, pouring the icky tasting powder into the bowl. "Now you can add the water and then we'll mix it with a big spoon."

"Yay~!"

Around the second or third cup of water I tipped into the bowl, I switched jobs with otets and stirred the odd looking goop that was forming in the bowl.

"Whats this for Otets?"

"It's for our late Christmas new year's eve party tonight. We're going to take the jell-o cups over to Aunty Lin's house and play with sparklers and firecrackers until midnight and have lots of fun," he trailed off with a small smile.

I guess this is what the grownups called reminiscing? Otets sure looked happy...

"So is the jell-o gonna help people stay awake?"

"Well, I don't know about that but it's certainly fun to eat." He plopped down some tiny plastic cups with puppies printed on them and started to spoon the blue and green stuff in.

Why couldn't it help people stay awake? The box said it had sugar in it. "What does jell-o taste like?"

"Why don't you try some," he smiled, pulling out a spoon and dipping it into the bowl. I ate a small mouthful of the slimy goop that surprisingly didn't taste too bad, but it tasted like it needed something...

The phone rang and otets patted my head before leaving to answer it in the living room and I looked around the cluttered counter. At the far end was a bottle of vodka just recently opened and just the thing this slimy goop needed! Surely otets wouldn't mind! He says he likes the taste of it. I grabbed the bottle, opened the top, and tipped it over into the little cups we were putting them in.

"Sorry about that Ivan. Uncle Mal had some questions for me about...giant rolls of paper..." He shook his head before smiling at me. "How does it taste?"

"Perfect~!"

*~Roderich~Caligo~*

A loud thud from the other room woke me a little earlier than I was used to, the clock reading 8:37 AM. As awkward as it was, waking up in an unfamiliar setting such as-if the mess of clothes in the corner and what looked to be a pocket knife on the nightstand was any indication - a male's room.

Whatever the case may be, the loud thuds only continued with an occasional grunt until there was an obvious crash of something hard hitting the floor and a not-so-subtle 'fuck!' thrown in. It couldn't hurt (well, actually, yes it could) to see what the fuss was about, especially since they had been kind enough to allow him to sleep in their own home. Finding my glasses on the nightstand beside the bed, I opened the door quietly and edged out into what appeared to be a hallway leading to the living room.

Just beyond that was the kitchen where a large blue tarp had been laid out, several large boxes strewn across it and another one in the process of being placed among the others as well. A young woman i red shorts and a black tank top dusted off her gloved hands before turning around, smudges of black on her cheeks.

"Morning Roderich!"

"Good morning..." That sounded a little more cautious than I'd intended...

She gave me an odd look before shrugging and returning her attention to the task at hand, whatever that was.

"Sorry, had to get all this together for the new year's party. You're gonna come with me, right?"

"I'm not much of a...party person..."

"Please Roderich," she said, sparing a pleading glance at me. "It'll be fun, I promise and I wanna spend it with all my friends!"

We were friends? I couldn't even recall the girl's name and yet she wanted me to go to a party with her?

"Alright, alright. Please stop with the cutesy voice though..."

"Absolutely! Oh man, New Year's is gonna rock!"

I couldn't help but shake my head at her enthusiasm, but it felt... Nice to be wanted. Though, my original curiosity had yet to be satisfied. "What exactly is it you're bringing to the party," I asked, carefully avoiding a need to use her name.

"Ink blocks!"

What?

*~Gilbert~Mal~*

The awesome me here, coming to you from some god awful home appliance store with this unbelievably so-happy-go-lucky-he-puts-Italy-to-shame human looking for huge rolls of paper...

"Ok. I have to ask again: why are we looking for rolls of paper in a home appliance store?"

"Well where would you suggest," he chirped. Gilbird broke into an unholy chorus of angry chirps of which I was responsible for calming.

So. Not. Awesome.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe a craft store?"

By the time the words left my awesome mouth he'd already run off to talk to what looked like a store worker who was already giving the weirdo weird looks. I swear I could see him asking him WHY he was looking at a home appliance store for not-wall-paper. Why doesn't anyone listen to the awesome me?

Or whatever the hell they sold here.

"Hey! Just get us a roll of blank paper and we'll be outta this unawesome store!"

"Right away sir!"

That's more like it.

*~Little!Feliciano~Mavi~*

I think it's kind of funny how Mavi-chan always tells me to be careful and I end up cleaning up her messes later…

"Uaaaahh! F-Feli! Get the mop, quick!"

"Si mama!" Easy every-day jobs like this are fine, but sometimes-

CRASH!

"Uaah...! Why me!"

"Ve~, cheer up mama. These scones still look pretty good!"

"They're cookies," she sighed, slumping into a chair, exhausted.

I rubbed her back gently when she hit the table face first and sighed.

"I guess Lin was right for telling me to bake at my house instead of hers...Oh well!" She sprung back up, more likely than not about to give the cooking another try. "I can handle this! She has Iggy to worry about, so I should be wishing HER good luck!"

"Mama, you forgot to turn the stove off...!"

*~Arthur~Lin~*

"You idiot... Don't move around so much."

"D-Don't order me around you bl-bloody..."

An involuntary shiver shook my frame and there wasn't a blasted thin I could do about that smug grin of hers before she wrapped the blanket around me tighter. She had been nice enough when I'd first woken up with that god awful hangover but now she was as bossy as ever. Honestly! I wasn't sick! It's called bloody allergies, but does she believe me?

NO!

"I'm fine...I swear!"

More glaring. Good grief, if looks could kill, I should be dead a thousand times over by now! What a hostile living space!

"I'm not going to argue the point with you anymore, so just sit there, ok?"

You have no idea how tempted I was to open my mouth again, but how would I effectively (and if politeness could be accommodated in this situation) argue my condition with my hostess? Granted, taking the cold shower -insert bone rattling sneeze here- was her idea to begin with, it was all with good intentions. It would be cruel of me to make her feel bad for trying to help me. Still, the bloody American wankers were all alike with their bossy attitudes...

"Here," she said evenly, firmly planting a tray with a bowl of hot soup into my lap. "Drink up and get better so you can help me set up for the party tonight."

"Party? What party? You never menti-ACHOO! Ugh, damnit..."

She rolled her eyes and turned away but I didn't miss the smallest hint of a smile as she did.

"I would have told you if you weren't so hung over or yelling at me all the time...Either way, we're having one and I would like if you came."

"You would now? Is that the formal invite?"

She grunted in response and dissappeared into the kitchen again, leaving me to my soup and the rather awkward party invitation. She wanted me to come, did she? And it wasn't as if she was heavily insisting that I go (I couldn't help but think of America at this)... It was actually rather...nice to be wanted... "Alright, I suppose I could humor her and her guests," I resolved and proceeded to gulp down the hot chicken soup.

She was right about this making me feel better at least. Shrugging off the blanket, I took the tray back into the kitchen where she was hunched over in front of the oven with a rather intense look on her face.

"Thank you for the soup Ms. Kollane."

"Just call me Lin," she muttered, waving me off.

"Lin..." The name sounded awkward as it was all on its own...

"Alright, thank you Lin...I see that you're baking. Perhaps I could-"

"No."