"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more..."
Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas
x
Thursday 12th December 2012: A Little Bit More
Thursday came with the news that the boiler had finally been fixed – nearly a week after the initial problem began. And although Louise was glad that the issue was sorted and that she could finally have a house to herself again, she was a little sad to leave Toto's flat behind. Toto helped her move her luggage back into the small cottage, dragging the cases back up the staircase. Louise was just returning to collect the last suitcase from the car when she bumped into someone at the doorway.
A familiar head of light brown hair had to side-step to avoid tripping into the Cat. "Louise? You're back!"
Louise frowned and eventually recalled the name of Haru's Human friend. "Hiromi?"
"I came to see you over the weekend, but the place was locked up and empty – I assumed you were out, but it looks like you were out for a little longer than just a quick trip." Hiromi glanced back to the car and appeared to recognise the vehicle by adding, "Out with Toto, I take it?"
"The boiler broke last Friday, so I've had to stay at Toto's until it was fixed," Louise explained.
"Is that the last of the cases, Lou?" Toto called from the landing.
"No, there's one more to take," the Cat shouted back.
"Then what are you doing chinwagging?" Toto bounded his way downstairs, rolling his eyes as he passed Louise. "Never mind, I'll fetch it. "Honestly, I should have known you two would get along like a house on fire."
"Why?" Louise retorted, grinning. "Because we're both amazing?"
"Because you both have so much to say all the time," he amended.
Louise rolled her eyes back to Hiromi. "He's such a drama queen."
Hiromi grinned, but she glanced back to Toto as he unloaded the final suitcase. "Since when has 'Lou' been a nickname?"
"Since never. Toto decided he liked it and I haven't been able to persuade him to drop it." Louise noticed something troubled in the young brunette's gaze and quickly moved the topic of conversation on. "Anyway, how have you been? Hopefully your boiler is in better shape than this one."
A smile flickered on Hiromi's face. "Oh, I've been lucky – no problems thus far." She sidestepped to let Toto through with the last piece of luggage. "Well, I suppose since you're being so well looked after, there's no real reason for me to stick around–"
She started to step away, but Louise caught her arm. "Please, stay a while."
Hiromi's gaze flickered to Toto's retreating back, and then back to Louise – not something that the Cat missed. "I'd love to, but... I get the feeling I'd be in the way." She shook her head. "It probably wouldn't be any good for me to stay any longer than needed..."
"Toto will be off as soon as he's finished moving the suitcases in," Louise promised. She didn't know why the promise came; she and Toto had discussed no such thing. But something – perhaps just the fact that Hiromi was Haru's friend, or that she also considered Hiromi a friend, or even the look in the young Human's eyes – made Louise want her to stay. She got the overriding instinct that things were going to get messy otherwise. "Please," she repeated, "do stay." She smiled gently. "We can have a girly night in, just the two of us. I haven't had one of those in a while."
Hiromi hesitated, but Louise could see that her argument was winning. Eventually the brunette sighed and nodded her defeat. "Okay." A little of her former spark returned in the form of a quick grin. "It sounds like fun."
"Brilliant! Just give me a moment..." Louise moved to the bottom of the staircase and shouted, "Toto! As soon as you're done here, skedaddle, please!"
Toto's head appeared from behind a door, an expression of mock-hurt crossing his features. "What have I done now?" he demanded.
"Nothing! But Hiromi and I have just planned a girly night in, so, if you wouldn't mind..."
Grumbling good-naturedly, Toto joined them downstairs. "After all the help I've just given you, you're going to throw me out to the bitter elements already?"
"Oh, please. You have a car, it's not like you're walking back home."
"But still, to toss me away after all I've done..." Toto sighed dramatically, raising a hand to his brow as if deeply hurt. "No – no, don't say anything–!"
"I wasn't going to."
"–I know when I've been used! I shall now hurry home and drink myself into a tea-induced coma to compensate with this utmost betrayal–"
"Are you done?"
Toto straightened and pulled his coat on. "Hey, if I can cope with you burning down my kitchen–"
"I didn't burn down your kitchen–"
"–Then you can cope with a few of my dramatics from time to time," Toto finished.
"I only burnt the apple crumble."
"But you did flood it."
"... Guilty as charged."
Hiromi had watched the proceedings with a morbid kind of fascination. Then she said, "Just what exactly happened this weekend?"
"Lou ruined my home–"
"I made a bit of a mess..."
"A bit of a mess?" Toto echoed incredulously. "You filled my flat with smoke, water, and then plunged us into an hour-long blackout."
"It wouldn't have been an hour if you had known anything about the electrical system in your flat to start with," Louise replied calmly. "If your neighbour from the flat below hadn't known about the power switch tripping, it would have been a lot longer."
"I've already told you that maintenance systems aren't my forte – what more do you want?"
"Alright, boyo, get going." Louise elbowed him lightly in the direction of the door. "You've had your fun, now let us have ours."
Toto started pulling on his scarf, but he didn't leave just yet. "I've always wondered, what exactly do women do during nights in?"
"What exactly have you imagined?"
"I imagined pillow fights and long talks about guys." He grinned, thoroughly expecting to be including in the 'about guys' section. "Possibly some chick-flick movies too."
"I haven't had a pillow fight in... years," Hiromi said, speaking up for the first time since Toto's and Louise's mock argument.
"And the whole point of a girly night in is to get away from guys," Louise added. "I haven't seen a Human movie since the last time I came to this world."
"You haven't?" Hiromi asked, flabbergasted.
"No... Is that such a surprise? We don't get any signal from your world, so hardly any Cats even have a television. You have to buy a special adaptor to convert magic into viable electricity too, otherwise, well..." Louise thought back to the incident over the weekend. "Sparks happen," she concluded.
"I think we need to raid Haru's DVD cupboard. You don't know what you've been missing out on."
"I can't wait." Louise turned to Toto. "Well?" she demanded. "What are you still doing here? Shoo!"
"What am I now? The stray dog?"
"Under the circumstances, you might as well be. Why aren't you shooing yet?"
Toto suppressed a grin and backed out of the front door. "Alright, Lou. Oh, before I go–" he quickly added, turning on the spot before Louise could close the door on him, "are you doing anything this Saturday?"
"I doubt it. Why?"
"Oh, no reason."
Louise raised an eyebrow. "Well, that was subtle. Will I like this surprise?"
"Who said there was going to be a surprise?" Toto denied. "But, yet," he added, "I think you will. Okay, now I'm leaving. Happy?"
"Over the moon."
Toto grinned and tipped an imaginary hat before getting into his car. Louise watched him leave before finally shutting the door behind her. As she headed to the lounge, where she had seen Hiromi disappear to in search of films, it dawned on her that she hadn't even registered the cold when waving Toto off. She paused, considering this rather unexpected turn.
She shook her head and muttered, "Guess I must be getting used to this world, after all..."
She wandered into the lounge to find that Hiromi had moved on from her previous task and was currently fiddling with the fireplace. Hiromi heard her approach and glanced back to the Cat. "Heya. There's some films I picked out that I thought you might like – they're by the TV. I thought, considering the season, some Christmas movies would be good. Pick whichever one you fancy."
"Thank you." Louise looked down to the array of brightly-coloured DVD cases, and then back to the young brunette. "Are you making a fire?"
"No winter night in is ever complete without a fire. And I doubt you've ever had a winter night in so we're going to do this right!"
"How... is a winter night in different from any other time of the year?" Louise asked, considering the perpetual summer that the Cat Kingdom existed in. It was difficult to imagine what people did during these cold months that didn't include just sleeping.
"Oh, a Christmas fire, roasting marshmallows, hot chocolate, water bottles, Christmas music..." Hiromi easily rattled off. "Wrapping up in blankets, baked beans on toast... Basically, whatever we can do to keep warm and jolly."
"And yet you Humans still love this time of year?"
"Of course! There's something wonderfully about being wrapped and warm and safe at home while you watch the weather storm outside! And then, there's Christmas..."
Louise shook her head. "I shall never understand you Humans."
"We don't understand ourselves, so that's only to be expected." Hiromi eventually coaxed the fire into light and shifted over to the DVDs Louise had forgotten to examine. "Have you chosen a movie yet?"
"I'm just not familiar with any of them," Louise admitted. "I don't know which one I'd like."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll be able to find something you like..." Hiromi trailed off, a happy spark in her eyes. "Oh, I've thought of something! You say you don't understand this time of year, right...?"
"Yes..."
"Well, then, Love Actually will be the perfect movie to teach you! Well..." Hiromi admitted, "most movies based around this time of year will carry some sort of Christmas moral – it's the done thing – but Love Actually is one of those movies you always have to see once during Christmas! While we're waiting for the adverts to finish," she said, inserting the DVD into the player, "I'll make us some hot chocolate, and find some marshmallows."
"Marshmallows? For what?"
"What do you think? For roasting on the fire!" Hiromi paused, and then looked back to the Cat. "Ah... I guess if you never have winter, you probably have never melted marshmallows over the fire. It's one of the best perks of winter!" She grinned. "You'll see."
ooOoo
"So, do I just put it over the fire like this?" Louise waved her marshmallow in the vague direction of the fire, doing her best to keep her fur away from the flames.
"Well, yes, but you've got to get closer, or it'll never melt!"
Louise regarded the fire with suspicion. "My father used to tell me stories of Cats who had got too close to fire and lost their fur in the process..."
"Ah, I had an uncle who did that once... Well, I say uncle. He was more like a family friend. He sat too close to the fire for too long, and then he discovered that all the hair on his arm closest to the fire had just sort of... disappeared. Then again," she added after a moment's notice, "he did also lose an eyebrow to fire, so we did always wonder whether he was a closet pyromaniac..."
"Your uncle was quite the strange man."
"You can say that again."
On the TV, the DVD was still scrolling through adverts. Louise sat in silence, gently revolving her marshmallow before the flames while her mind whirred at today's events. Eventually, she spoke. "Hiromi?"
"Hm...?" the Human mumbled through a mouthful of sugary marshmallow.
"What is going on between you and Toto?"
She heard Hiromi abruptly swallow the remainder of her mouthful. "Going on?" she echoed. "There's nothing going on between us."
"Oh." Louise's mind whirred onto the next conclusion she had been working on. "But... do you wish there were?"
Hiromi's gaze flickered to the Cat, and then away. "What would it matter?" she asked quietly. "It's not like I have a chance now."
Louise turned to her friend. "What do you mean by that?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Hiromi asked.
"Isn't what obvious?"
"He likes you. Toto. He really likes you."
Louise bit back a pained, shocked laugh. "Don't be silly!" she insisted. Toto couldn't like her – not in that way... And she couldn't handle something like that, not right after Machida's betrayal... "He's just a friend, that's all. He's only been looking after me because he's Haru's brother."
"I saw the way he looked at you," Hiromi replied. "And I know it because... because it's the same way I look at him. Take it from a girl who knows, Louise; he likes you."
"But that's... that's ridiculous. We've only known each other for a week, I mean, that's..."
"That's Christmas for you," Hiromi finished. She pushed the marshmallow prong back into the fire without any marshmallows, watching the silver glint of steel dance in the flames. "I've never seen him... like that before."
Louise returned her gaze to the fire, idly realising that her marshmallow had gone black. She did nothing to remove it. "How long have you...?"
"After my childhood crush dumped me." Hiromi's smile was wan, the firelight flickering over her features. "I had crushed on one boy throughout school, and eventually he asked me out, but a year later he just... dumped me. I mean, we were at our final year of school, so we were still kids, I guess, and relationships at that age don't often laugh, but still... it hurt. So I came back to Haru's to tell her what happened, and Toto was there and he just... knew exactly what to say to make me feel better. He made me laugh again." Hiromi's laugh at this was brittle. "I guess it was inevitable at that point. He doesn't know – I'm never going to tell him, especially not now – and I'm glad he doesn't know. Because, even if we can't be anything more, I am still so glad that he's a friend."
Louise had sat silently through Hiromi's story, her marshmallow now blackened beyond repair. Something was numb inside her. "And yet..." she said, "you're still happy for him to... like me?"
"I've known Toto for as long as I've known Haru and he's never seen me," Hiromi sighed. "I guess it's better that I lose to someone I know to be good for him, rather than over a total stranger."
"But you don't... you don't know me. We've only talked a few times."
"But I've seen how you are with him. You just... click. Anyway, I trust Haru's judgement – if she trusts you, I trust you." Hiromi paused. "Does Haru know about this?"
"I didn't know about this until now," Louise replied, still in mild shock. "I still can't... quite believe it."
"Oh, believe it. It's true." Hiromi laughed and then lapsed back into silence. On the TV, the movie had finally made it through the adverts and had reached the menu screen. But neither individual made any move to start the film just yet.
Eventually, Louise found words again. "You know, I originally set up this arrangement – this house-swapping – because I needed to get away," she murmured. "I had just discovered that my boyfriend of three years had been cheating on me and I knew I couldn't just sit around at home for any longer. So I left. I got away, even if it is just for a holiday. Perhaps you need something like that too."
"Yeah, but where do I go? Everywhere will be booked this short-notice."
Louise paused. An idea was trickling into her mind. "My home can easily fit more than just two people," she eventually remarked, deceptively idly. "An extra person won't make an ounce of difference..."
She left her words hanging, not sure how Hiromi was going to take her offer. To the wrong mind, her suggestion could be seen as pushing Hiromi out the way so she could have Toto without any competition, but that wasn't what was running through Louise's mind. She knew what it was like to be pained by love; she knew the best thing was to get away, even if only for a short while.
"You... You would be happy, with that?"
"Sure. As long as Haru is, and I can't see why she wouldn't be. We can write to her tomorrow – it's getting a little late now."
Hiromi's face split into the first true grin that day. She hugged Louise so suddenly that the Cat almost dropped her ruined marshmallow into the fire. "Thank you! Thank you, so much!"
A small, surprised smile slipped over Louise's features. She hugged the young brunette back. "It's nothing," she said. 'It's the least I can do after all the trouble my arrival has caused...' "Now, then, let's see what this movie is about..."
