A/N: Believe it or not, an incredibly stupid Christmas picture inspired this chapter. I wasn't planning on doing another intermission chapter and I wasn't too big on doing a non-canon chapter either. It's a bit ironic that this intermission is happening exactly in the same place as the original intermission chapter for Volume I. It's funny how that worked out. Anyway, as I said, this is non-canon at least in the context of what's going on in the story right now. Obviously they didn't hitch a ride all the way back to Nowhere for Christmas LOL. I will neither confirm nor deny that this might become canon in the future. Since this more or less amounts to a Christmas episode, it's largely just slice of life without anything huge going on. It's completely lacking in the All Things End trademark angst so if you really need some angst just imagine that this is Computer's dying dream or something. Of course, as we all know, this whole fanfic is Courage's dying dream so that means it's Computer's dying dream inside Courage's dying dream. WE NEED TO GO DEEPER. Oh, and enjoy the massive mood whiplash since this unintentionally ended up coming out at a bad time with what's going on in the main story right now, but it doesn't make sense to release this anytime except around Christmas. Also, this is the first appearance of Computer with glasses even though he hasn't gotten them yet in the main story. Computer with glasses, you say? If you don't know what I'm talking about then you've missed out. I had a new picture made of Computer a few months ago that reflect the change that will be occurring soonish. There's a link to the picture in my profile.
Chapter 37: The Christmas They Always Wanted
Halloween had been as unpleasant as ever for Courage, if not worse. With Computer now living on the farm in both his dog body and sometimes in his original form, he'd spent the entire month of October pranking Courage in every way that he could think of. Though Courage had tried to be mindful of the scares, it seemed that Computer had always known when to best catch him off guard.
On the other hand, while it was a bit hypocritical of him, he had not tolerated any of the scaring that Eustace had tried to pull on Courage too. Those two hated each other more than anything, and while they never spoke a word to one another, the events of October had only managed to whip their feud back into full force.
Eustace had not been tolerant of Computer's presence since day one, but his reaction had been expected and prepared for. Despite all of the complaining, anger, and huffiness that Eustace had thrown his way, Computer had stayed steadfast in his resolution to remain on the farm in dog form. Eventually Eustace had been left with no other choice but to accept him living there, if begrudgingly so, and while he still complained about him constantly, he no longer tried to do anything other than simply complain. Computer had spent more than a few nights outside during those first few months because of Eustace.
There had, of course, been plenty of times where Courage had to hold Computer back to keep him from doing something unpleasant to Eustace. He'd often talk about 'putting that old fool in his place', but Courage wouldn't allow it. Thankfully, things had been settling down between the two of them, outside of the prank war that had temporarily reignited their hatred for each other to near dangerous levels. Courage was certain that soon those two would simply fall into a habit of ignoring each other. Of course, he only hoped that mostly for Eustace's sake. The results were never pretty whenever Computer got back at him for various slights. It was never in a direct way though. Strange things would often happen, like Eustace's truck suddenly coming to life and running over his foot, or the TV going out whenever his favorite show was on. Revenge was always exacted in ways that Eustace would never be able to blame anyone for.
With Halloween having passed, giving Courage a much needed break from all the scares, Thanksgiving had soon been upon them. It was an...interesting one, to say the least. The food Muriel cooked was as good as ever, but unless some of her distant relatives came to visit, the only other person who usually joined them was Eustace's mother, and she always made Thanksgiving as uncomfortable as possible. To make matters worse, Fred had shown up this year, having apparently been discharged from his mental hospital. He'd said that he wanted to see Courage after hearing about his health scare earlier in the year. All that could be said was that Computer had started out that day scoffing at Courage's fear of Fred. By the end of it, he was officially just as afraid. At least they had managed to survive that Thanksgiving with their fur intact, although not without a few mental scars.
Now it was December, and with it, Computer's first Christmas. Well, the first one that he was going to be celebrating like a normal flesh creature. When he realized that he was going to have to get a gift for Courage, he quite literally locked himself in the attic and spent the entire first two weeks of December doing nothing but searching for the perfect Christmas present. Every time Courage tried to visit, he'd hide everything on his screen and shoo him out of the room. By the end of those two weeks, Courage had given up, assuming that Computer had finally lost his mind and was going to spend the rest of his life looking for a gift that did not exist.
It was the fifteenth day of December when Eustace barked an order at Courage to go up into the attic and grab him a spare string of Christmas lights. Much like how Computer had been obsessing over gifts for the last two weeks, Eustace had been obsessing over his outdoor light display. Despite the lack of neighbors, it was his pride and joy. He did it every year and every year his display grew all the more complex. However, he'd been having an unusually high number of setbacks this time. Normally he'd have his light display finished within the first few days of December but now it seemed that random strings of lights would go out constantly or light bulbs would suddenly burst without warning. After many trips to Nowhere to get replacements for the lights, he still wasn't having any luck.
It was just as Courage reached the attic door to fetch the extra string of lights when it was suddenly opened by Computer and they very nearly walked right into each other.
"Dog? What on earth are you doing?" He asked, adjusting his glasses as though they had almost been knocked off his face. It was a habit that he had picked up ever since he'd gotten those things.
"You're back in that dog again? Does that mean you've finally found me a Christmas present?" Courage asked him.
Computer rubbed the back of his head. "I have officially searched every online store ever indexed, and-" He slowly trailed off.
Raising an eyebrow, Courage repeated, "And?"
Computer let out a sigh. "...And I still couldn't find you anything."
Courage nearly fell backwards. "Seriously? Two whole weeks and you couldn't find even one thing that I might like?"
"You're, er, surprisingly hard to shop for." He answered with a shrug.
"C'mon, Compute. It literally took me two seconds to figure out what to get you. You're making this so much more difficult for yourself than it needs to be."
"Eh, I'll figure something out." He replied with yet another shrug.
"Well, I need to grab some Christmas lights, so-"
Computer cut him off. "Wait, Eustace is still at that? I thought he would have given up by now."
"You've been sabotaging the lights, haven't you?"
He grinned. "Maybe just a little bit."
"Well, I'd stop if I were you or else Eustace is going to spend the entire holidays grumpy."
Computer found that even more amusing. "Do you really think that it matters either way? Nothing is going to make that buffoon happy. Besides, it keeps him out of the house and away from us. Isn't that a win all around?"
"Not when he comes back inside and is ten times grumpier than he already was."
"Alright, alright." He relented. "I'll stop. Besides, I need to focus on finding you a present anyway. If the internet can't help me, what will?"
"You're making a mountain out of a mole hill, Compute." Courage sighed. "Just go into town and look for something, it's not that big of a deal."
"Ugh! How can you tell me to not put proper effort into yourgift? Don't you want something mind-blowing?"
"Not if it's going to cause you to lock yourself up in the attic for nearly a month. Trust me, I'll like whatever you find, so stop obsessing over it."
"If you say so." He sniffed. "I will never understand how your mind works. If I were you, which I am very glad that I am not, I would want the most awesome present ever crafted. That is, of course, what Christmas is all about."
"Actually, I'm pretty sure it's about-"
"Don't say family!" Computer interrupted him. "Don't give me that sugar coated tripe. Everyone knows that it's all about consumerism! Were it not for Christmas, the economy would quite literally collapse!"
"Eh, if you say so, but I don't really care about presents all that much. I'm just happy that everyone is here to enjoy the holidays with me. After what we went through this year, I'm more than happy to know that everything worked out the way that it did. Saving me from my illness, meeting Nina, getting your system fixed up and having you start to live here full time, it just seems like we're really lucky. Sometimes it almost feels like a miracle to me."
Computer's expression became unusually sullen upon hearing his words. "Yeah...I guess you're right about that." He reluctantly agreed. "Well, I'm sure that there will be plenty more Christmases to come that we will enjoy just as much, but I don't want to screw this first one up."
"You really are going to obsess over finding me a present for the rest of the month, aren't you?"
"Only if I cannot find you one soon."
Courage gave up. There was no point in trying to convince him otherwise. He wanted to find the best present ever and he was not going to give up until then.
An angry yell from Eustace downstairs got Courage to pick up his pace. He grabbed the lights out of the attic and made his way down the staircase with Computer following close behind.
"Stupid dog!" Eustace snapped. "Did you get lost up there, you idiot?"
Courage presented the lights to him and he swiped them out of his paws. Beside him, Computer glared up at Eustace, and as the old farmer tromped out of the house, he said under his breath,
"There's another string of lights that won't be working."
Courage lightly elbowed him in the side, grinning, even if he knew that the extra sabotage would only put Eustace in an even more foul mood.
"So, uh, when did that happen?" Computer asked, pointing over at the Christmas tree they had put up in the left corner beside the TV.
"We've had that up for nearly two weeks now, Compute." Courage sighed. "When I went upstairs to tell you that we were getting started on it, you shooed me off."
"Oh..." He uttered out. "Well, it's not that big of a deal. I'm sure there's plenty of other Christmas stuff worth doing."
"Like?" Courage asked, intentionally goading him.
"I would say sledding, but of course we never get any snow around here, nor do we have any hills. I would also say that we could take part in the art of caroling, but there's barely anyone around to carol to, and you always seem to get so bent out of shape at the prospect of me singing, so that's off the table. Hmmm, I mean, we could do something more simple like watch Christmas movies, and I'm sure Nina has a million old classics lying around, but-"
"But she's out of town." Courage finished for him.
Indeed, Nina and her father had gone to visit a distant relative for the holiday season and it had been planned that they would all get together for New Years after she returned.
"I could pirate some movies." Computer chuckled.
"Don't be a thief!" Courage groaned. "Besides, we can just use one of those instant streaming services."
They had only just discovered the joys of instant movie and TV show access a few months ago, after Computer had been restored to a point where he could do such a thing again without issue. They had spent many a night watching their new favorite shows early into the morning.
"That seems like such a boring way to go about it." Computer complained. "Oh, but I forgot one other thing. What about the Christmas cookies? Did I miss out on that too?"
Courage's ears perked up in alarm. "H-hey! I thought we talked about this already? The art of baking the perfect Christmas cookies is one that has only been passed down in Muriel's family and I am the only one who's allowed to bear witness to such a sacred tradition."
"Yes, yes. I know." Computer grumbled, shaking his head with contempt. "They're just cookies for goodness sake, but you act like the Christmas gods will come down and smite us all if Muriel doesn't make them, or if anyone dares to watch her while she's doing it."
"Look, I've earned the right to help her out after many years of hard work and observation. You'd just find a way to burn the cookies without even going near the oven."
Computer looked more than a little peeved at that quip, even though he knew perfectly well that he still wasn't any good at cooking.
"But, hey, I'm just talking about making the cookies themselves. You're perfectly free to help us frost and sprinkle them."
Computer's look of annoyance immediately flipped into one of glee.
"Ugh," Courage groaned. "If I didn't know any better, sometimes I can't help but think that you're actually a kid underneath all that supposed wit and cynicism."
"If enthusiasm makes me a kid then I will gladly be a kid." He snickered.
The rest of that day went on without much else to note. Eustace continued to work on his light display without much progress, and he was so angry by the time it got dark that he seemed to fall into a strange state of tranquil rage. He almost seemed lost in his own little world, his world of perfect Christmas lights that did not constantly burn out.
After dinner, Courage and Computer did indeed set out to watch as many Christmas movies as they could find and that was how they spent their afternoons for the next couple of days. About a week later, the fabled cookie making day was upon them. Courage got up early to join Muriel in the kitchen and for most of the day all that could be heard was banging, rumbling, rolling, Muriel's voice yelling as though the batter itself had come to life, and a suspicious noise that almost sounded like a chainsaw going off.
Computer tried to stick his head in at one point to see just what the heck was going on in there, but when he did it was as though Courage had teleported because all he saw was a paw in his face as he was pushed back out. He heard Muriel yell, "Courage, I need you NOW!" then his friend let out one of his ever characteristic screams, there was a rumble that made the whole house shake, and after that everything returned to normal, well at least as normal as it could be with all the strange sounds coming from the kitchen.
Finally, around supper time, they finished. Courage came out of the kitchen covered in so much flour that he was more white than pink and Muriel looked no better.
She announced, "This year's cookies are finished! Who wants to help frost them?"
Computer was almost afraid to go in there after everything he'd heard.
Eustace, who wasn't going to 'waste his time with stupid cookies', even though he liked them just as much as everybody else, was sent out to get dinner because Muriel was far too tired to cook anything else after today's work. She sat slumped in her rocking chair as Courage took Computer into the kitchen to help decorate the cookies.
Although some horrific monstrosity had not been birthed inside the kitchen like those horrific sounds had suggested, it was sill just as thoroughly covered in flour and cookie batter as Courage and Muriel were. Sitting atop the table was a huge batch of cookies just waiting to be decorated.
"Alright," Courage sighed. He was feeling as exhausted as Muriel was. "We've got a whole bunch of different sprinkles, and the frosting is over here, and-" He stopped.
Computer was staring at the counter where a strange shape had been covered by a towel. "What is that?" He asked.
Courage had really been hoping that he wouldn't notice that.
"Don't touch it, okay?"
"Why? What are you hiding?" He asked, still eying the thing precariously. "It certainly doesn't look like a cookie to me."
Courage let out an exhausted sigh. "It's a present that I made for you, okay? I want it to stay a surprise until Christmas Eve, so please leave it alone."
Computer blinked several times. "Really? For me?" He asked, conveying a level of genuine surprise. His wariness was quickly turning into curiosity. "Just what on earth is it exactly?"
"In the spirit of Christmas, you'd better not spoil the surprise and sneak a peak when I'm not looking." Courage huffed.
"I know, I know." He muttered out. "But the wait is going to kill me."
"Well, just focus on the cookies then."
"Oh, right." He quickly uttered out, having apparently forgotten about the task at hand, if only for a moment.
His first attempt at frosting a cookie was...messy, to say the least. The cookie in question quickly became lost under a gooey pile of frosting.
"Huh...that didn't go quite the way I expected." He admitted, trying to fish the cookie out. "This isn't as easy as it looks."
From then on it was decided that Courage would frost the cookies and Computer would decorate them, but even that didn't go as planned. Nearly fifteen minutes later and Computer still hadn't finished decorating his first cookie.
"Compute, I've got like half of these cookies frosted now. What's the hold up?"
He was carefully decorating a Christmas tree cookie to complete perfection. Unlike the frosting, he was doing a surprisingly good job, if only because he was moving like a sloth.
"It must be absolutely perfect." He said under his breath, as though speaking too loudly would somehow ruin his work. "People are going to cry when they eat my cookies because they will loathe to destroy such beauty."
"We're going to be here all night if you keep moving that slowly." Courage grumbled out.
"I'd like to see you do better." He sniffed.
And so Courage got to work on his own batch of cookies. Unlike Computer, he just wanted to get them done so of course they weren't nearly as good. Computer made sure to mock him every step of the way but by the time they were done he'd only gotten a grand total of five cookies decorated while Courage had finished the rest.
"Quality over quantity." He quipped, gleefully hovering over his 'masterpieces'.
Courage had a bad feeling that he wasn't going to let anyone eat those cookies anyway.
Three days before Christmas, Computer finally announced that he had found a gift for Courage after spending nearly a whole extra week searching the internet for one. He'd been forced to pay extra to ensure that it would be shipped on time, and the day before Christmas Eve, it arrived. He sat outside the entire morning waiting for it.
Keeping Courage at bay, he took the package up into the attic where he could open it away from prying eyes, but he soon had to return because he didn't know how to wrap gifts on his own. Courage simply told him that he'd have to try his best or else he'd have to go up there and have the gift spoiled. Although Computer did not look very sure of himself, he went back into the attic anyway and eventually came back with a badly wrapped, yet still wrapped none the less, Christmas present. At least he had gotten the bow on alright.
"This is horrible." He exasperated. "I couldn't find you the perfect gift so I had to settle for less and now I can't even get it to look nice?"
"I've told you a million times, I'm going to like whatever you get me, and for your first time, that's a pretty decently wrapped present. I'm sure most people would do worse."
That did not make Computer any more enthusiastic. With a sigh, he said, "Well, let's get this abomination under the tree. I have one more thing that I'd like to get wrapped."
"One more thing?" Courage asked. "Did you get something for Nina too?"
"Oh...oh dear, I completely forgot about Nina." He answered, a look of alarm crossing his face. "I was so focused on what to get you that I didn't even think about her. Well, I guess I've got until New Years to worry about that. Although, this present is for somebody else. I'd prefer to leave it a surprise for now since I'm sure you're going to get a kick out of it."
Courage was even more confused than ever, but he decided that he'd wait to find out rather than pester Computer about it. Christmas was nearly upon them after all.
He spent the majority of Christmas Eve helping Muriel cook, which was a much less frantic effort than their cookie baking endeavor. He even let Computer help a few times, keeping a watchful eye on him to make sure that he didn't mess anything up. Muriel, who had taken a liking to Computer ever since he 'moved' in, even though he didn't particularly care for her himself, got in on the fun too by teaching him a few of her cooking tricks. By the end of it, he was actually starting to become a halfway decent assistant, rather than a disaster waiting to happen.
Finally, after everything was finished, the whole family got together to enjoy the Christmas feast. Even Eustace, who always objected to Courage and Computer sitting at the table, was too busy stuffing his face to bother getting angry with them. As always, Computer was the one to out-eat everyone, but even after he'd had his fill there was still plenty of leftovers to put away.
After cleaning up, and Muriel and Eustace had gone back into the living room, Courage was finally ready to show Computer the thing that he had made for him. Computer was so exited to find out what it was that he completely forgot about the stomachache he was currently suffering through .
Courage took the covered object off the countertop, having to stand on his toes to reach it, and brought it over to the table where Computer was waiting.
"Alright, so," He began. "I had to work on this in between helping Muriel with the cookies, so it isn't going to be perfect, but-"
"Just show it to me already!" Computer exclaimed.
Courage pulled the towel away to reveal a gingerbread house. "This isn't your average, everyday, gingerbread house." He told Computer. "I switched up the recipe a bit so that it would be coffee flavored, and I even put coffee beans on it instead of cand-"
At the word 'coffee', Computer had already stuffed half the house into his mouth.
Courage stared. "I, er, figured that you'd love it."
In less than a minute, Computer had eaten the entire thing.
"I think you've outdone yourself, dog." He cheerfully acknowledged. "I don't know what you could have gotten me for Christmas that can top this."
"Oh, don't worry. What I got you is going to blow your mind. Oh, and speaking of which, you do know that there was a gift card in that gingerbread house, right? It was for that one coffee place that you like so much."
Computer's eyes widened. "What?" He exclaimed, looking down at the empty plate that his gingerbread house had been sitting on. "I, er, didn't taste any cardboard." He remarked, placing a paw onto his stomach. "H-how do I get it out?" He asked.
Courage shook his head, grinning. "Oh, Compute, what am I ever going to do with you?" He half-sighed and half-chuckled out at the same time.
After that, Computer spent the rest of Christmas Eve moping over the lost gift card until he and Courage settled down for the night to watch a few more Christmas movies. Soon morning came and they joined Eustace and Muriel down in the living room to open presents.
Courage had gotten Muriel a golden picture frame in hopes that she'd want to get a new family picture taken, one that Computer could finally be in. Much to his relief, she was absolutely delighted with the present. Eustace had gotten her a new tea set along with a sewing kit and she had gotten him a bunch of new tools, the ones that he had been begging for all year but had been too cheap to buy himself. Neither Eustace nor Courage had gotten anything for each other. It was an unspoken rule between the two of them that they never got each other presents, but Muriel at least had been thoughtful enough to get Courage an absolutely gigantic bone that was twice as tall as both he and Computer were combined.
All that was left were the two gifts Courage and Computer had gotten for each other, but Computer was insistent that Courage wait until tonight to open his gift. So, instead he presented his gift to him. After all this time, he couldn't wait to see the look on his face once he realized what was inside.
Computer got to work on ripping the wrapping paper to shreds. All that it revealed was a plain box. Courage had taped it shut so it took him awhile to get it open, but when he did...
His mouth feel open in disbelief, but his eyes were all but sparkling with glee. Courage couldn't help but laugh. His reaction was even better than expected.
"You're kidding me?" He gaped. "This isn't a joke?"
"Of course not." Courage laughed. "I told you. It only took me two seconds to figure out what to get you."
The box was filled up to the top with nothing but a near endless supply of coffee gift cards.
Computer continued to stare at it, completely dumbfounded.
"You'll never run out of coffee again!" Courage chuckled, although deep down he knew that Computer would probably blow through all those gift cards in like a month.
Speaking of jokes, Muriel was the one to point out that there was one last badly wrapped gift under the tree. It was addressed to Eustace, but it did not say from who.
Courage immediately knew that something was about to go down.
"Oh, what's this?" Eustace asked as Muriel plopped the present down into his lap. "Did Santa Claus decide that I was a good boy this year?" He greedily joked.
Opening the box, he gasped when he found that it was filled with hundred dollar bills. Although, upon taking a few of them out he was quick to realize how flimsy they were and it soon became very apparent that they were merely fakes. In place of Benjamin Franklin's face was a very distressed looking Courage who was wearing a sweater and who's fur atop his head had been braided into pigtails.
"AAAARRRGGH!" Eustace cried out, pumping his fists up and down in the air. "Did you do this, dog?" He snarled, pointing a finger at Courage who was quick to shake his head. "It was you, wasn't it?" He spat at Computer.
The glowing dog merely shrugged in about as casual of a manner as he could manage.
"Dumb dog! You're always playing tricks on me! I shoulda known it was you! Bah! I don't know why I let you live here!"
"Oh, Eustace, hush!" Muriel chided him. "He probably just wanted to play a silly little joke on you. It's nothing to get upset over."
"But...but all that money." He choked out.
The old farmer seemed to deflate with sorrow, letting the box of fake money fall from his lap and onto the floor. Computer could not have looked anymore delighted.
He slowly leaned over to Courage and whispered, "He wanted me to print him money, so I printed him money."
"Did you have to use 'that'picture?" Courage groaned. "How many times am I going to have to tell you to delete it?"
"As many times as it takes until you realize that I'm not." He snickered.
Leftovers were heated up for lunch, and despite it being Christmas, it turned out to be a pretty lazy day. Nobody was expected to come visit so Muriel was just happy to rest after all the cooking she had done yesterday. Courage stayed with Computer up in the attic, having him play Christmas music as he helped him search online for a gift that Nina might like. When night fell, they went downstairs to have the last of the leftovers for supper, and after they were done, Computer finally decided that it was time for Courage to open his present.
"Why can't we just open it up in here?" Courage asked as they returned to the attic.
"Absolutely not!" Computer exclaimed. "If I could not find you the best present possible then I'm at least going to have you open it up in the best place possible instead." He made his way across the room and opened up the window. "Come on, dog. We're going up onto the roof for this."
"Really?" Courage sighed. "We're going up there again? I'm telling you, I will like your present just as much down here as I would up there!"
"Look, I know that the roof isn't all that special, but it's way better than this boring, old attic!"
"Ugh, I hate it when you make me climb up there!"
"What? Do you think you're going to fall or something? You've been up there at least a million times by now! There's absolutely nothing to fear!"
"It's not me I'm worried about, it's you. You're the clumsiest person I know, and I don't trust you up there. One of these days you're going to slip and I'm the one who's going to have to watch."
"Don't be a baby!" He huffed. "I haven't fallen yet and I'm not planning on falling anytime soon."
He was already halfway out the window. With a sigh, Courage went after him. They both climbed up the outer wall of the house until they made it onto the roof. Computer did it with Courage's present between his teeth.
"Here we are!" He exclaimed, crawling forward a bit and then sitting down. "We've been up here, what? Six or seven times now? There's no way that anything bad is going to happen."
All Courage knew for certain was that they still needed to climb back down. He didn't even like coming up here when it was to save Muriel from something, but Computer loved to come up here for no reason at all!
"Alright then," His friend went on, handing him the present. "Look at this, dog! We're under the stars and moonlight! A much better place than some dusty attic! Now hurry up and open the gift! I want you to finally see what I got you." He crossed his arms. "You have no idea how long it took me to decide upon this present in particular. I hope it's worth your while."
Without wasting another moment, Courage tore the wrapping paper open. Inside was an ornament, a clay wreath ornament to be exact, and inside the wreath was that goofy picture Nina had all three of them take before they left on their journey. The wreath also had a white, clay ribbon weaved around it. At the top of the wreath, the year had been panted on the ribbon in black letters, and at the bottom, Courage, Nina, and Computer's name had been painted on it. Computer's actual name, to be exact, which surprised Courage. Toward the end of their journey, they had finally decided upon a name for him, although because Courage was so used to calling him by his nickname, he had allowed him to keep using it. Nina also had the same privilege, although she was far more liberal in her use of both names. She switched between them constantly, depending on how annoyed she was with him.
"Oh, so you had them put your real name on it?" Courage laughed.
"I spent so very long debating on what to have put there." He admitted with a chuckle. "I thought it looked better this way than with that awful nickname you just can't seem to let go of." He laughed.
"Well, heh, thanks for the gift, A-"
"Don't say it!" He quickly laughed, waving a finger in front of Courage's face. "I never thought that it would come to this, but somehow it's weirder for me to hear you say my actual name than that stupid nickname you won't stop using. I never imagined that I would come to prefer it. Ugh, this is your fault, you know. You got me used to it."
Courage gave him a sly smile and then looked back down at the ornament. "You really thought that this wasn't the best present ever? I mean, you got it personalized and everything."
"Oh, well..." He trailed off, rubbing the back of his head. "Because I couldn't find you anything specific, I decided that this would be the next best thing. I figured that it would be a nice way to commemorate everything that's happened to us this year. So much has changed in so many different ways and I figured that this would be a nice way for us to look back on it all after this has become nothing more than a memory."
"That's surprisingly thoughtful." Courage admitted. "And exactly what a Christmas present should be. The holidays are, after all, all about being with family and remembering good times together."
"Ha! I'd say nearly ninety percent of our journey was anything but good!"
"But weren't the good parts worth the bad?"
"I suppose so." He admitted. "And if it hadn't all happened, we wouldn't be sitting here right now."
"I'd say that it was worth it in the end." Courage agreed, looking up into the night sky. "Merry Christmas, Compute."
"Merry Christmas, Courage."
End Of Chapter
A/N: I could totally live with the idea of Computer spending the rest of his days just covertly trolling the shit out of Eustace. Oh, and hey, a bit of a tease about Computer's name. Yes, he's going to get one after years of me flip flopping on if I actually want to give him a name or not LOL. There is also going to be one more extra story that takes place a little while after this one that I'm going to write sometime soon. It was such an adorable idea that I have to make it into a proper short story. Until then, the main storyline will be getting back on track with the next chapter.