Chapter 13: The Hiccup Before Christmas by PKMN37
Singulto fluttered through the midnight sky as it watched the snow cover the rooftops below. It just got here but it knew what time of the year it was; Christmas Eve. It always enjoyed the feeling of Christmas. The beautiful Christmas trees that lit up the houses, the taste of eggnog, the music, the movies, and Santa himself. It descended into a nearby park and checked out the light show. Not long after it finished exploring the park, it heard voices nearby. It flew over and spotted a group of people carrying boxes of decorations to a Camper.
"Thanks for coming over for Christmas, kids," said a large, elder man.
"No, problem, Grandpa," replied the teenage boy in a green jacket. "It's always fun decorating the Rust Bucket."
"It'll be the first time Kevin and Julie are here," said the red-headed girl. "Ben, you start on the tree, I'm going to make my famous eggnog."
As it stealthily got closer, it saw Ben fiddling with his watch and slam his hand on it. In a bright, green flash, he transformed into a slim, sleek creature with balls on his feet. The creature proceeded to cover the tree in lights at great speed.
Singulto snapped back to attention when the Rust Bucket door opened up. It quickly and quietly flew to the entrance before the door closed. It landed next to a stack of cups and transformed itself.
"I hope you didn't forget the nutmeg this time, Gwen," said Ben, from outside.
"Don't worry, I remembered," said Gwen, rolling her eyes. She put on an apron and started to make her eggnog.
As Gwen was making the eggnog, something hit the RV and a bottle of dish soap on the top shelf tipped over, spilling its contents into the Hiccup Cup.
"Damn it, Ben!" shouted Gwen, as she caught the ingredients about to fall off the side of the table.
"Sorry!" came a gruff voice from outside.
Gwen sighed and grabbed the Hiccup Cup. She filled it with milk and downed it before getting back to work. As she started to stir the eggnog, "Hiccup!" she hiccupped and a stream of bubbles escaped her mouth.
"Interesting. Hiccup!" She watched as more bubbles appeared. She looked at the cup and saw the German writing below. She smiled and took another drink.
"It's been a while, Gwen," the Cup said.
"Hic! It sure has. Hic! Where've you been? Huck!"
"Around," it replied. "Just thought I'd stop by for Christmas."
"The bubbles hic! are new."
"Liquid soap."
"Hic! Cool. So will you stick hic! around for the festivities? Hup!"
"Only if your famous eggnog is involved," it joked.
Gwen laughed and hiccupped a large bubble.
"So is it almost ready?" It asked.
"All it hic! needs now is a bit huck! of ginger." She began to stir it in.
"Excellent. I'll just camp out here if that's okay."
"Sure," replied Gwen. She hiccupped loudly and produced another large bubble.
"So I got a new transformation the other day."
"That's cool. Hic! What is it?"
"A keg. A witch gave me the new form. Now I can affect multiple people simultaneously. Unfortunately, I can only use it three times a week and at night. I just used it up yesterday."
"Oh, that's huck! too bad."
"Yeah. Magic, go figure," the cup sighed.
"Hic! Speaking of magic, it hic! turns out I'm not a witch. Hic! I'm half mana alien."
"Sounds cool," said the cup.
"Meh. I honestly hiccup! liked the idea of being a witch hic! better. It's like one of those annoying hiccup! retcons creators like to do hic! with their stories later on. Huck! It would be like Hagrid hiccup! saying to Harry, 'You're a hic! wizard, Harry', only to tell him in hic! the second book, 'You're an alien, Harry.' HIC!"
The cup laughed, "Don't even get me started on the J.K Rowling problem. ' Dumbledore is gay. Hermione is black.' Ai-yi-yi."
"I know, right," Gwen agreed.
"Gwen, who are you talking to?" came a familiar voice from behind her.
She turned around and saw Kevin looking at her funny.
Gwen's face went bright red. "N-nothing! No one! Hic! I'm not weird! Hic! You're weird!"
Kevin chuckled, "Okay. Always a fun time with the Tennysons," he said as went over to the couch.
The cup chuckled, "Smoothe. Not awkward at all."
"Shut up," grumbled Gwen, as she went back to finishing her recipe.
The cup continued, "Well, you can still talk to me. Mana is technically magic, right?"
"Yeah?…"
"So, in a way, you're still kind of a witch."
Gwen smiled, "True. Hic! Thanks."
"No problem."
The RV door opened and Julie entered, Hi, Gwen," she greeted. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry hiccup! Christmas, Julie," Gwen greeted. "Hiccup! Hiccup!"
Julie watched the bubbles floating in front of her. She smirked and asked, "Interesting case of hiccups you got there. What did you drink?" She whispered, "I want some."
Gwen laughed, "It's a lo-huck-ng story. Join Kevin on the couch, HICCUP! I just finished making hic! the eggnog." She subtly pointed to the cup behind her.
"Sure, I just need to get a drink first." She winked and grabbed the cup off the counter and saw some dish soap sitting at the bottom. She added more, poured some eggnog in, and went to sit down.
"Hic! So, how are you hup-eep! and Ben doing? Hiccup!" Gwen asked.
"Oh, you know him," she took a drink. "Media loves him, he loves them. HEEK!" Two big bubbles floated before her. She laughed and hiccupped more.
"Maybe I should skip the eggnog," said Kevin.
"Hik! Oh, come on," Julie insisted, trying to hand Kevin the cup. "It's fun. HEEKUP!"
"No thanks," he replied.
"Hey, everybody," greeted Ben, as he came in.
"Hey, Ben," greeted Julie. "Huck-eek!"
"Hiccups, again?"
"HICCUP!" went Gwen.
Ben smiled, "You too, huh? What'd you two drink?"
"Heek! Hiccup juice? HIK!" Julie joked and hiccupped a large bubble that popped in front of Ben.
"I wouldn't drink that eggnog, dude," warned Kevin.
Julie laughed, "Don't worry. Hik! It wasn't the eggnog. HEEKUP! I don't know what it Hik! was but you're safe. Huck-eek!"
"Really?" asked Kevin, deadpanned.
"Relax, Kev," said Ben, "I'll be the guinea pig." He grabbed a cup and took a drink of the eggnog. He smirked and did a loud, fake hiccup. "Hic! Oh no, Kevin!" he said, mockingly. "Now I've hic! got the hiccups, too!" He swayed back and forth then landed with an overdramatic flop next to Julie, arms flailing in the air. "Oh, the hic! humanity!"
Gwen and Julie laughed while Kevin rolled his eyes.
"Hilarious," Kevin droned, sarcastically, "now if you'll excuse me, I'm getting a drink."
After Kevin got up, Gwen passed a plate of Rice Krispie treats. Julie took another drink and hiccupped again before handing the cup to Gwen, who smiled and took another drink out of it.
"I HIC-AH! vote we watch Rankin hic! Bass Rudolph," said Gwen.
"Bad Santa," said Ben.
"Hik! Elf," said Julie.
"Whatever," said Kevin.
"How about we vote with bubble size?" suggested Ben.
"You're kidding, right?" asked Kevin.
"Nope," said Ben, "here are the rules: small bubbles are Rudolph, medium bubbles are Bad Santa, and large bubbles are Elf. Ready? Begin!"
Each hiccupped but not as fast as Ben thought they would. "Let's speed this up," he said and began tickling them.
"Ben! No! HAHAHAHA!-HIC! HIC! HICCUP! HAHA! HIC! HICCUP! HAHA! HICCUP! HAHAHA! HICCUP!"
"HEEHEE! HIK! HIK! HUCK-EPP! HAHAHA! HUCK-EPP! HEEHEEHEE! HIK! HIK! HIK! HUP-EEP! HAHAHA-HIK!"
After the tickling was done, Ben counted the bubbles, "Twelve small, fifteen large, and seventeen medium. Bad Santa wins."
Both girls were trying to catch their breath and slow down their hiccups.
"Hic! Well, hic! Th-hic! That wa-hic! was hic! Hic! Gimme a hiccup! a minute hic! and I'll hiccup! be right hic! with you. Hiccup!"
"Hahah! Heek! Remind me heek-eek! to try heek-eek! that the hik! hik! the next hik! time hik! Ben gets huck-eek! the hiccups. HIK!"
Once their hiccups calmed down, they joined Ben and Kevin on the couch. The girls took turns getting refills. Ben was sandwiched between the girls and was rocked side to side throughout the movie by their hiccups.
"How about heek! a game of charades? Hik!" suggested Julie.
"Okay, hic! I'll go first. Hic!" Gwen put up an index finger to indicate the first word. She got down on all fours and started grazing. Second word. Cat-like sound.
"A hiccuping cat-cow!" shouted the cup, though no one but Gwen could hear it. Gwen stifled a laugh.
"A mental patient," Kevin joked.
"Spongebob acting like Gary on Opposite Day!" shouted Ben.
"Correct!" shouted Gwen.
"That was my second guess," the cup moped. Gwen rolled her eyes and smiled.
Next, it was Julie's turn. First word: fat. Second word: duck. Third word: headache.
"Fat Daffy Duck with a migraine?" the cup said.
"A jackel?" said Ben.
"What?!" Said Kevin, looking at Ben. "It's Psyduck!"
"Correct! Hik!" shouted Julie.
"How did I not know that one?" the cup asked.
After a few more rounds, the cup made a suggestion to Gwen about dancing. "How hic! about a Christmas Eve hic! dance? We'll have to do hiccup! it outside but we'll have hic! Grandpa Max's bonfire for light," suggested Gwen.
"Oooh, hik! how romantic. Heek!" said Julie.
Everyone got themselves ready and head outside, except for Gwen, who volunteered to pick the music to play on the Rust Bucket's outdoor speakers.
"What do hic! you suggest?" Gwen asked the cup.
"How about some Christmas Jazz? Maybe some Christmas Lo-fi," It said.
Gwen set her Ipod up and connected it the speaker system. "Would hup! you like to come? Hic!"
"I don't know what I'd do," It said.
"Hiccup! You could act as a hup! beautiful, butterfly hair hic! clip," she suggested.
"That works." It turned into Singulto and perched itself on her head, then it weaved its legs into her hair. "I'm ready."
Gwen started the playlist and went outside, "Hey, guys. HICCUP!"
"Hey, Gwen," greeted Max, as he stoked the fire.
Christmas Jazz played as Gwen danced with Kevin. Julie held mistletoe over Ben's head and they kissed for a few seconds. When they pulled away, Ben hiccupped a few bubbles.
"Ready?" Gwen asked.
"Sure," he replied and they frenched. It was an interesting feeling as Gwen hiccupped into him. It was a combination of the quick suction of her hiccups and Kevin swallowing her bubbles. After he pulled away, he noticed Singulto on her head, hiccuping as he commented, "Hic! I like your hic! clip."
"Thanks," Gwen said, blushing,"Hiccup! It was a gift from hup! an old friend." If Singulto could smile, it would.
After dancing for a while, they joined Grandpa Max by the fire and toasted marshmallows. Then they had more eggnog and Julie and Kevin got ready to leave. Kevin got in his car and started it up.
"I had such a wonderful time. Thanks for having us over," said Julie. "And thanks for the awesome concoction," she whispered.
"Anytime. Merry Christmas, Julie," said Gwen. After they left and Ben headed to the bathroom, Gwen turned to Singulto, who was sitting on the counter. "Do you really have to go?"
"I must," it relented, "but I had a wonderful time. Thank you for having me. It's always great to celebrate with friends. Merry Christmas, Gwen." With that, it flapped its wings at a high speed and vanished.
"Merry Christmas, Singulto."