Out-of-the-line corny Christmas special…yes, it had to be. To all the people of Christian faith reading this: Merry Christmas! To the others: I apologize! Have a good time anyway!

I don't even consider myself a Christian, but the majority of people in my country celebrates Christmas, and so does my family, even though my mom is an atheist, my uncle believes only in his own superiority, I do some modest praying to Lucifer now and then, and what my dad believes in nobody has ever figured (Tolkien probably). Something about the season just gets to me, especially this year as it's the first time I'll be doing the "Coming home for Christmas" gig. I love giving presents to my loved ones. I love receiving presents. I love how the whole town is decorated festively, and sometimes, if we're lucky to get it, the snow. I love decorating the tree with my dad and the special ginger cookies we always have.I journeyed home in the last November week to make Christmas cookies with my mom. It ended up with a total stress-induced collapse the week after…worth it.

I hope I get the cigarette tip I wished for! I'll be the fanciest Audrey Hepburn ass looking smoker on the whole campus!

To Guest53: I'm glad you're alright. Though I can't even begin to understand what everyone in your country is going through right now. Sorry for freaking out last week, I was legit panicking because something might have happened to you.

To Justreading: Nice review! ;)

As far as John and Philippa were concerned, visiting uncle Nimrod for Christmas had been a great idea. Now that he and their mother got along again, it didn't do at all for him and Groanin to spend Christmas all alone. The last few days had been jam-packed with cheer as the twins had helped their uncle deck the halls with a veritable tornado of holly, not to speak of the giant Christmas tree they had decorated together. On Christmas Eve, things looked perfect. It had even snowed a little. It seemed like the whole city of London wanted to look extra festive tonight.

After the lavish Christmas dinner the family sat together by the fireplace and talked. It was pleasant. But then, at just about eight p.m. Nimrod took a glance at his watch and stood up. "You know, I think I'm going outside for a little walk" he said. "Edward, we can continue our thrilling conversation about the stock market later." He went to the door without asking anyone if they wanted to come along.

John and Philippa looked at each other, both opened their mouths at the same time, but then they saw Groanin silently shaking his head and their mother putting a finger on her lips. "Put a warm coat on" Layla called after her little brother, the protective older sister showing.

"I will, Layla" Nimrod promised and left.

"What was that just about?" Philippa wondered. "Mom? Groanin? Where did uncle Nimrod go?"

"He does this every year" Groanin explained. "I say, every year on Christmas Eve. He'll just go for a walk by himself, and no one must come with, not even me. Sometimes he comes right back after ten minutes, sometimes he stays away for hours."

"He's always done that" Layla went on. "Ever since our teenage years. The years he comes right back seem to be bad years, as he always looks a bit disappointed. The longer he stays away, the happier he is when he comes back. When we were younger, he often stayed out all night. I never asked."

John and Philippa looked at each other.

Some sort of silent conversation happened between them.

"I have to go to the bathroom" Philippa said, standing up.

"I'll make sure Phil doesn't fall in" John said and followed her.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" Philippa asked a minute later, rubbing her cold hands.

"You want to know where he goes too, right?" John said. "Now hurry, we can just catch up. According to the tracks in the snow, uncle Nimrod went this way…"

"Wait up. My hands are getting cold."

"I brought your mittens."

"You're such a considerate brother" Philippa said and meant it as she put on the warm gloves and followed John.

They caught up with their uncle fairly quickly. He was walking down the street in a leisurely pace. As he approached a small square, he stopped and looked around. There wasn't much to see, though. In the middle of the square stood a pretty ugly fountain, which now of course didn't run, and snow covered everything. A few stray snowflakes blew into the faces of the twins, who were watching their uncle from around a corner.

Nimrod smiled, satisfied, as he apparently seemed to have found what he'd been looking for. He announced in a clear voice: "I, Nimrod Godwin, leader of the Marid tribe, pronounce a temporal ceasefire between our opposing sides for the remainder of the Christmas holiday."

There was a sudden little light as someone on the opposite side of the square lit a cigarette. A voice from out of a shadow answered: "And I, Iblis Teer, leader of the Ifrit tribe, hear you and accept."

The twins exchanged a startled look as Iblis came forth from behind the fountain and joined uncle Nimrod, who smiled. Iblis looked at Nimrod in his red coat with white fur collar and said: "Marid. You look like a fucking mall Santa."

"It's good to see you too, old snake" Nimrod said with a chuckle. "Merry Christmas." They embraced, very quickly, and parted just as soon.

"I brought something for you." Nimrod opened his jacket and took a brightly wrapped present out.

"You really shouldn't have" Iblis said, looking positively scandalized. "It's bad enough that we're doing this at all. You don't have to bring me presents every year."

"Oh, don't be like that. Take it already. I hope you'll like it."

"Actually…"

Iblis shuffled his feet a bit, seeming very interested in the wet cobblestones that covered the ground. In a swift, secretive movement, like a backalley drug dealer offering his client the illegal substance, he pulled a small wrapped object from his sleeve and dropped it into Nimrod's hands.

"Oooh, for me?!" Nimrod exclaimed, delighted.

"No one must ever know" Iblis ground out. Recovering very quickly, he added: "I would have gotten you a sense of humor, but that was physically impossible."

The twins could see their uncle's radiant smile from two blocks away. "Thank you. How was your Christmas so far?"

Iblis made a dismissive gesture. "Eh. Not much of anything. The usual eight ties."

"Eight…ties?"

"My sons" Iblis explained, "lack imagination in regards to buying presents. I haven't bought a tie for myself in years."

"Oh. Well, I'm having the family over. It's nice, not being alone."

"See, that's what I always tell you: family is important. Oh no, and you snuck away from them to be out here with me? Marid, you are incorrigible, get your ass back home!"

"Not yet. This place is a bit dreary, don't you think? Let's go to Harrods."

"Oh yes, and watch mundane consumerism."

"Just come on, Scrooge."

They started walking away together, their voices fading with the distance.

"Don't you think it's horrible how they make the employees work on Christmas?"

"Whatever you say, Marid…"

Once more, John and Philippa looked at each other.

"Let's follow them!" John said.

"Are you really sure this is a good idea?" Philippa asked.

"Well, I think we- oh! What's that!"

Somewhere on the opposite side of the square, roughly in the direction Iblis had come from, there was some scurrying movement. In the darkness only illuminated by the Christmas lights in the windows of the nearby houses it was hard to see anything, but John, who had the better eyes out of the twins, could make out two boys in dark clothes entering the square, then ducking stealthily behind the fountain.

"Hey! You there!" John called over to them.

"John – shhh – stay here!" Philippa urged, but as her brother ran over to the boys, she sighed and followed him.

When the two little groups clashed at the fountain, she saw that the boys were vaguely familiar. At least they had met before, at the djinnverso tournament in the fall. It was none other than Rudyard Teer, accompanied by a slightly older boy. John recognized him as Jonathan Teer, another son of Iblis.

"Oh my fuck! Marid!" Rudyard hissed.

"What are you doing here, Rudyard Teer?" Philippa asked accusingly.

"The same thing as you, birdbrain. We followed dad. Seriously, and you're supposed to be the smart one?"

"Well, at least I didn't get kicked out of the djinnverso tourney in the first round because I couldn't keep my tongue in check!" Philippa backsassed him.

"Well…well, you're stupid!" Rudyard burst out, his face red, and probably not only from the cold.

"Hey, shut your trap, daddy's boy" John intervened. "If you want to fight…"

Jonathan Teer sighed. "All you wet wipes are crazy. We cannot fight."

"Oh and why not?"

The Ifrit shrugged. "You heard your uncle, didn't you? He didn't just announce a ceasefire between him and dad, but between our opposing sides. The Christmas Truce tradition is old as balls. As long as the holiday goes, no good djinn can fight an evil one, and vice versa."

"But if we were to fight, we would totally own you!" Rudyard butted it.

"Oh really? Does anyone of you have any powers right now? It's winter."

"Uh…"

"She's right. None of us has powers, and it's really cold, so…" Jonathan, trying to be the voice of reason, was interrupted by a snowball whizzing past him and hitting John in the face.

"Hey!" John yelled. "What the hell did I do?!"

"Well I can't be going around hitting a girl" Rudyard answered.

Philippa bent down and made a snowball herself. "What did you just say?" she asked. She scooped up a handful of snow, stepped up to Rudyard and dumped it straight down his collar. Rudyard yelped.

"That'll show you! Don't you dare belittle me like that again, Teer!"

"Hey, back off my little bro!"

"You back off my sister, you slimy snakes!"

Soon snowballs were flying heavily on both sides. In a matter of minutes everyone was covered in snow, faces glowing and fingers frozen stiff despite their gloves.

"Hey, wait, stop!" Jonathan shouted. "We have to stop! You small fry listen to me!"

"You only say that because we're winning! At the end of the day you Ifrit are all cowards, just like uncle Nimrod said!"

"No, I…did your uncle really say that?"

"Yeah, last year in Egypt. He called all the Ifrit cowards, except for…um, your dad."

"Aww, so he does carry a torch for dad. Hah, Jared owes me twenty bucks now. Anyway, we have to stop. We can't fight, remember? Also we lost our two lovebirds."

"Lovebirds?" John asked.

Rudyard peered up from behind the fountain. "Crap, he's right. They're gone. What now? Do we wait another year?"

"They said they wanted to go to Harrods. That's the mall, right?" Philippa asked.

"I know where that is. Come on."

"Wait, what do you mean come on? First you antagonize us, then you throw snow at us, and now you want to ally up?"

"We don't have time for that. Listen, you wanna know what business your uncle has with our dad too, right? Then it looks like we're on the same side tonight, now come on."

"But…what if they see us? We're not exactly on good terms with your dad."

"Christmas Truce, remember? All he can do is glare at you. Now hurry."

Jonathan led the little party to Harrods, where they soon found Nimrod and Iblis again, as Nimrod in his bright red coat was not exactly easy to overlook. The mall sparkled with Christmas lights, mundane couples and families were everywhere. John Lennon's "Happy Xmas" was blasting out of loudspeakers. The scene was so picturesque that Philippa's eyes watered a little. And in the middle of that, two of the most influential djinn. Good and evil, united for a night.

"There they are" Rudyard hissed. The four young djinn were hiding behind a large Christmas tree.

"They're talking…I can't hear anything though."

John tried to look over Rudyard's shoulder without exposing all of them. "Maybe we can get closer. They look…happy, I guess."

"Happy? My dad? Let me see that, Marid."

"Hey, ouch, no shoving!"

The tree rustled suspiciously as each of the four tried for the best vantage point. Eventually Philippa got the upper hand and nudged Rudyard and John aside. She looked out from behind the tree and gasped with incredulity at what she saw.

"Oh my god, are they holding ha-"

"Impossible."

"Let me see, let me see!"

"Ah! I said no shoving!"

"Tell us what's happening!"

"Well, they're…standing there. Yeah, and they're smiling at each other. And their hands are touching. Not much else…oh god, oh god, what happens now…!"

"What! Let me see! Oh!" Rudyard somehow appeared next to Philippa, almost shoving her into the tree. What he saw was his father, and the Marid leader, just standing opposite each other with rather silly smiles on their faces, apparently unbothered by the people watching or the snowflakes whirling down around them. And then Nimrod, with utmost care, raised his hand and brushed some snow out of his arch-enemy's hair. But instead of snapping at him – Iblis usually didn't like being touched – he just grinned, rolled his eyes and said something none of the kids could hear.

What Rudyard could hear were the whispered questions from behind him.

"What happens now?"

"Are they kissing?"

"No, they're just doing the forehead touch thing. Shoot, dad really does carry a torch for that Marid."

"Now Jared owes me like a million bucks" Jonathan whispered.

"Johnny?"

"What is it, little bro?"

"Shut up."

"What? Why?"

"Look…just look at them."

All the four djuniors leaned in together and watched, relinquishing their cover. It didn't matter. Neither Nimrod nor Iblis cared for them.

"Now…now they're kissing alright" Philippa whispered.

They all stood silently and in awe, four kids with snow in their hair. There were no words but those that John Lennon still sung on the speakers.

War is over, if you want it, war is over, now…

"Miss Philippa?" Rudyard asked. Something in his voice had changed.

"Yes?"

"I actually don't think you're stupid. I think you're much smarter than me, which has embarrassed me. I'm sorry."

"It's…alright."

"You kids!"

The twins spun around at the new voice. "Mom! …Oh dammit, we're in trouble."

Behind them stood Layla Gaunt, with Groanin looking over her shoulder.

"What are you all doing out here?" she asked. "John, Phil, why are there two Ifrit with you? And why are you all covered in snow?"

"Mom, we're sorry…" Philippa began.

"We were curious about what uncle Nimrod was doing" John explained bluntly. "And these two, well… they just kind of came up. They had the same plan as ours, only they followed their father…"

"Of course you all were curious" Layla said. "Spying on your uncle is not a very nice thing to do, but…I understand why you did it." She laughed and pointed at the mall. "It is a most astonishing sight, isn't it?" The twins felt that she wasn't talking about the festive environment, but the two djinn still locked in a kiss.

"Wait…mom, you knew?"

"Pretty much since the first years." Layla smiled an almost mischievous smile. "I never asked, but that doesn't mean I never followed him."

"You did?"

"As did I" Groanin threw in, looking a bit ashamed.

"But…why did you never say anything?" the twins asked.

The two adults looked at each other and shrugged. "It's entirely their business. People find love in the strangest places."

"Indeed they do" someone said.

Everyone turned around once more to see a young man leaning against the tree. He looked the spitting image of Iblis, save for his hair that was a little darker.

"Another Iblisson?" Layla asked. "My, how many of you are there?"

"I don't think even dad knows exactly" the newcomer said and bowed. "I'm Odair Teer, firstborn. And I wanted to see what my two littlest brothers were doing out in the streets at night. You can run into all sorts of danger out here."

Now it was Rudyard and Jonathan who looked timid. "We followed dad…"

"You think we didn't? Every single one of your brothers followed dad some year. We could've just told you, but I guess you have to see it with your own eyes."

"Look, this is just silly" Layla announced to all of them. "We're all out here now and…it's laughable! It really is. Why don't we just, I don't know, drop the scam and celebrate Christmas together? We have the truce already."

"Alright with me, missus" said Odair. "But…who breaks it to Sir Nimrod and my father?"

And this is the story of how Nimrod's place got invaded with Ifrit for the remainder of Christmas. What sounds like a recipe for mayhem went by relatively cordial, with everyone on their best behavior. Edward Gaunt appeared a little spooked by the sudden presence of so many additional djinn, but he was largely ignored. That is, until he and Iblis got into a discussion about women's rights, and then Nimrod, who had been in the kitchen making tea, came in to the sight of Iblis towering over poor Mr. Gaunt and hissing at him: "Justice is a social construct that serves the privileged only, and of course a man who'd even think about hitting his children deserves to be turned into a leech and stepped on!"

He pulled the two of them apart, sat them down in opposite corners of the room and apologized to everyone in general and no one in particular.

He later caught his sister saying to Iblis: "Let's do this again next year."

"If business puts me in London next year, we will" Iblis replied. "Anyway, darling, you're in an abusive relationship. Step on him."

And Nimrod could have sworn he saw his sister wink and whisper: "Not until the kids are out of the house."