Chapter 37: Christmas Experience At A Vampire Academy
"Goood morning, and Meeerry Christmas, everyone!" Comes Michael's cheerful voice, resounding throughout the entirety of the building from the intercom. "Since there won't be any classes today, I want the teachers and staff as well as Token Black to come to the conference room. Please be aware of any nosy students that will undoubtedly try to follow you. If any of the teachers just so happens to catch a student, whether they're in your class or not, you can punish them with whatever means you deem fit. Just keep it to a minimal. Once again, teachers and staff as well as the Student Council Committee President are to report to the conference room. Be there in the next five minutes." The intercom clicks off.
Kyle sighs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Must he always behave like an overexcited child every Christmas?" He grumbles.
"Wonder what he's got planned for this year," Kenny yawns out, stretching his arms high above his head. "Hey Tweek, you wanna-" He stops himself from saying anything more when he looks across the room at the other blonde, around him is a dismal aura.
"Let's not bother him for now," Kyle suggests as he gets out of bed. Looking at Tweek a second longer, Kenny gets up as well, him and Kyle heading towards their dresser for a new pair of underwear and some casual clothes to wear, then to their designated bathrooms for a shower.
"Today is...Christmas..." Tweek is staring blankly at his lap. He honestly never thought a day would come where he wouldn't be excited that it's Christmas. It's not because he's a vampire, he long since accepted this is who he is now, however he'll never accept being unable to see his parents again. This will be the very first Christmas he won't experience with them.
Just remembering the times he spent with his mother and father during this holiday makes his heart heavy with sadness. He notices his vision becoming blurry, but he doesn't attempt to wipe the surfacing tears away. Every Christmas, ever since he started working, they would open the coffee shop and serve warm beverages to customers that stopped by, either for to-go or for those that wanted to stay in and warm up under the shop's heater before heading back out. Tweek loved that moment especially, because not only was business going well due to the number of customers, but everyone was happy. Seeing the blissful smiles on his parents' as well as the customers' faces made Tweek wish the moment would last forever. Then once business started slowing down, which most times happened around the early evening, the Tweak family would close the shop and head home to spend the remaining day of Christmas together.
Tweek wonders if they've decorated the house and put up a tree this year amid his absence, the thought saddening him even more, but the tears were already slowly trailing down his cheeks. He's curious about what his parents are doing right now. Are they at home eagerly waiting to see him again? He feels twice as worse realizing that he hasn't contacted them even once during his stay at this academy, no phone call, no letter...nothing these past few months.
He hasn't a clue as to how much time has passed when he feels a gentle nudge against his shoulder. He doesn't react, having no energy to.
"You wanna come with us to look at the decorations?" It was Kyle who offered.
"...No," Tweek eventually mutters, his eyes dry of tears. He just wants to be alone.
Kyle's present frown deepens. He looks over at Kenny, who's by the door. "You go on ahead. I'll join you in a bit."
"Take your time," Kenny says with a small smile. "I'm gonna go grab Mark then see if Stan and his friends wanna tag along with us." He walks out into the hallway that's buzzing with exuberant chatter, their volume decreasing some once the door closes.
Kyle sits down on the side of Tweek's bed, turning his body halfway to face him. "Would you like to talk about what's troubling you?"
"...No."
"Kyle, I think it's pretty obvious he misses home," Luke points out.
That does makes sense, Kyle now realizes. Tweek was once human so he most likely spent his Christmas with his family. Kyle places a hand over Tweek's weakly curled fist. "You don't have to tell me, but I also don't want you to be cooped up in here by yourself."
Tweek clenches the fist Kyle's hand is on, his blue-green eyes vacant. "..."
"Maybe you should leave him alone," Luke advises. "You were like this before too-"
"And it was Kenny that cheered me up," Kyle recalls with a small bittersweet smile.
"I helped too, ya know."
"Come with me to look at the Christmas decorations, and I won't bother you anymore." When a few seconds fleet by, Kyle feels Tweek's fist unclenching.
"...Fine."
Just because he's feeling glum doesn't mean he should drag down Kyle's spirits as well, he would hate that.
Kyle retracts his hand once Tweek starts removing the sheets from over his legs. Both get up, Tweek going towards his dresser while Kyle ambles towards the door. "I'll be waiting for you right here," he says
Every nook and cranny of the building is embellished in the well-known colors red, white and/or silver, green, and gold. There hasn't been a speck of black seen so far. The janitors showed off their artistic abilities for this occasion...or Henrietta threatened them not to fuck up.
Tweek's dead inside eyes become even more duller the longer he looks at the decorations, and hear the carefree and excited conversations all around him. He diverts his attention to the floor, having seen enough of the décor. He hopes Kyle isn't planning on having them wander around the entire building.
Said redhead is feeling anxious, the aura his roommate is emitting keeps getting stronger by the second. "W-wanna go get some breakfast?" He asks, hoping eating some food will help cheer the teen up some. He doesn't get a response. "How about some coffee?" Tweek faintly nods his head.
On their way to the cafeteria, the intercom clicks on again.
"In the next fifteen minutes, the cafeteria will be closed. For those who haven't eaten breakfast yet, you'd best hurry and do so now. The cafeteria won't be accessible until this evening so the drink machine and blood dispenser machine will be placed out on the second floor. Now as for food..." Principal Brimestone pauses. "You're just gonna have to hold out until this evening."
The moment the intercom shuts off, a mass of students begin to rush towards the cafeteria.
"Tweek, watch out!" Kyle shouts.
Before Tweek has any time to react, a passerby roughly bumps into him, being nice enough to apologize as he continues on his way to the cafeteria. Tweek ends up colliding into Kyle, who on instinct, wraps his arms around the pale-haired blonde's torso. Tweek blushes, his body tensing up.
Kyle glares at the students' backs for running like starving madmen. He loses his scowl when he asks, "Are you okay?"
Tweek flinches, startled at how close Kyle's voice was. "Y-yeah, but, umm..." He hints at their position.
"Don't let him go."
"Oh, sorry." As much as he didn't want to, Kyle releases his hold around Tweek. They stand there awkwardly for a moment. "L-let's go," Kyle says bashfully. They proceed to the cafeteria.
Upon reaching their destination, the inside is heavily crowded. Both Kyle and Tweek grimace in hesitation, but they don't have a lot of time to waste waiting for it to get less crowded. "You wait out here. I'll make our coffee, and bring them out," Kyle volunteers. Tweek nods and goes to stand off to the side. Kyle forces his way in, struggling to get to the table where the blood dispenser and coffee machines are at. He curses Principal Brimstone for causing this chaos, just what is he planning to do in here for it to be closed for almost several hours?
He finally manages to make it near the table, however he notices that there's a long line for both the blood dispenser and coffee machines. "Fucking great." He goes to stand in line for the coffee machine.
"I've heard of a lunchtime rush, but not a breakfast rush," Luke comments, amazed at how hectic the morning has become.
"This is worse than a lunchtime rush, and we've never even experienced that before."
"Yeah, surprisingly. But you're enduring this for Tweeky so you can't back out."
"Yes, siiir," Kyle responds playfully. But Luke is right though, he is doing this for Tweek. He made it his mission to alleviate Tweek's mood. While he continues to wait for his turn, he starts up a telepathic conversation with Kenny. "Where are you?"
"Stuck in the cafeteria. These motherfuckers just charged in here after the Principal's announcement. Actually, I think I see you. You in line for the coffee machine, right?"
Kyle looks around for his best friend, but doesn't spot him anywhere. There are a lot of blondes in here. "Yeah, had to push my way in just now."
"You didn't manage to get Tweek outta the room?"
"I did, he's waiting for me out in the hall."
"Oh, okay. So, what are you two gonna do after breakfast? Still gonna hang out with me, Mark, Stan, Gregory, Gary, and Pip? Ike went off with that emo guy with the long bang a few minutes ago."
Kyle takes a moment to think about how to answer him. As fun as it would be for all of them to hang out and enjoy Christmas together, he doesn't want to force Tweek when he is still not on good terms with Stan and his friends. He comes to a decision. "Sadly not, Tweek still isn't in a good mood."
"Okay. Well, the rest of us are gonna hang out all day, so feel free to join us whenever Tweek is ready."
"Will do." And their conversation ends there. Kyle focuses on the line he's in, frowning irritability when he sees a teacher just now leaving after she made her coffee. There's still a lot more vampires in front of him. Luke reminds him that he's enduring this for Tweeky, repeating the line several times which grates Kyle's nerves, but at least he's distracted.
It's almost ten minutes later when Kyle comes out of the cafeteria, holding two cups of steaming hot coffee in each hand. He sees Tweek leaning against the wall a few feet away, staring blankly down at the floor. Kyle approaches him.
"Sorry for the wait."
Tweek looks up at Kyle, then at the cup he's being given to. He takes it with both hands. "Thanks." He takes a sip, and so does Kyle from his own cup.
"There's something I want you to see," Kyle says. "C'mon." With a nudge of his head, he turns around and walks down the hallway. Tweek follows closely behind him, curious as to what it is he wants to show him
"That was crazy," Stan says, baffled. The six of them finally make it out of the cafeteria, five more minutes remain until it's inaccessible for some hours. "Wait, how come you two couldn't teleport us out?" He asks Kenny and Markus.
"Didn't feel like it," Kenny answers stuffing his hands into his pants pockets. Stan gives him a deadpan look.
"Teleporting isn't as easy as it sounds," Markus says. They start aimlessly walking the halls.
"Yeah, it requires not just energy, but for you to think, and I didn't feel like doin' that," Kenny says stubbornly. He used up his thinking juice for communicating with Kyle.
"Okay, okay. Sorry for asking," Stan acquiesces. "So, Kyle and Tweek aren't joining us?"
"Yeah, Tweek is still not in a good mood," Kenny replies.
"I believe I know why," Gregory says reaching into one of his pants pockets. He pulls out a folded piece of paper. "It could be because of this note we received." He hands it to Kenny, both him and Markus read it over.
'I am sorry to inform you, but you and your friends will not be allowed to spend Christmas with your family and friends back home. Due to the incident which resulted in Tweek being tuned into a vampire, for the sake of our existence we've decided for you and your friends to enjoy this wonderful holiday here with us. I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience, and your parents will be notified of this so they do not worry. Don't be shocked if you see a present or two in front of your door tonight ;) I sincerely hope you all have a good if not great time today later this evening!'
Merry Christmas:
Principal Brimestone
And there's a postscript:
P.S- I know you're an orphan Gregory so I apologize for not remembering in time of me writing this out, but I still hope you have a good time later on today.
"...Oh..." Is all Kenny utters out, a sympathetic frown on his face as he gives the paper back to Gregory. He isn't sure if Tweek received the note as well because he didn't see a paper stuck to their door, but if so, then his depression was warranted.
"It's bs, but also understandable. At least our parents know, and we'll still be able to get gifts from them," Stan chips in, very thankful that the Principal did a thoughtful deed.
"Yeah, that's the bright side of it," Markus says smiling faintly, Kenny nodding his head in agreement.
"Alright, let's head to this dude's room. We can hang out for a little bit there," Kenny says jabbing a thumb at Markus. The group walks to the brunette's room.
While heading there, Gregory notices that Pip hasn't said a word ever since he read the Principal's note earlier in their room. He completely understands his resentment towards their situation, they both know that whatever present that appears before their doorstep will not be for either of them.
Gregory glances over at Pip, feeling a sharp pang enter his chest at the look of sheer sorrow on his face. Tentatively, Gregory raises a hand and gently clasps Pip's shoulder, startling him. Pip looks over at Gregory, a bit confused. But when the platinum-haired blonde gives him a small smile, and a few soft pats before removing his hand, Pip is left twice as confused. His puzzled gaze lingers on Gregory for a moment longer, until it finally dawns on him.
Gregory was trying to cheer him up, reminding him that he's not alone. Pip feels a little bit better at the reminder, spending Christmas with friends can be just as enjoyable
Tweek has never seen such a beautiful Christmas tree in his entire life.
A large white tree is in the center of the first floor. It is adorned with blue lights, long gold and silver ribbons, black (was bound to see this color sooner or later) ornaments with scarcely placed candy canes hanging on the branches, a white skirt is wrapped underneath it, and lastly is a golden star shining brightly at the top.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Kyle asks, mesmerized. Every Christmas, the tree is always decorated so elegantly. He's glad that it's only the two of them here.
Tweek didn't hear his soft-spoken question as a memory of him and his parents setting up and decorating their own Christmas tree plays out in his mind. The tears return, and come flowing out of his eyes instantly.
Kyle notices Tweek silently crying, and he knows it's not because he's in awe. Without any thought, he embraces Tweek into a hug, dropping his empty cup to the floor. He doesn't tell him any comforting words, letting his embrace comfort the teen for him.
Tweek's own coffee cup slips out from his slacken grip, a small quantity of the dark brown liquid spilling to the floor. He wants to go home. He misses his mother and father, and he knows that they miss him too. The thought depresses him more, he unconsciously wraps his arms around Kyle, and buries his face into his shoulder.
This was not the reaction Kyle anticipated. He thought seeing the pretty Christmas tree would whisk away the sadness eating away at Tweek, but it had the opposite affect. Kyle hugs Tweek a little bit tighter. "I'm so sorry," he apologizes.
Luke frowns guilty at the scene. He's the sole reason why Tweek won't be able to see his family again. Ever. This thought has been haunting him ever since he turned Tweek into a vampire, and he knows that no matter how many times he apologizes, it won't be enough for Tweek to forgive him. And Luke won't feel any less remorseful.
"Kyle, take him back to the room then let me take over."
Kyle doesn't question his twin for he has a hunch that the reason Luke wants to switch is to talk to Tweek face to face.
Kyle teleports them inside their room. He sits the crying teen down on one of the beds with gentle care, whose it belongs to doesn't matter, then goes to turn on the lamp. His back to Tweek, he closes his eyes, entering the dark space of his subconsciousness. He gives his advancing twin a serious frown.
"Don't fuck this up."
Once Luke passes by him, he stops. "I'm not planning to." Then he fades away.
Now in control of Kyle's body, Luke opens his eyes to reveal scarlet irises. He turns around and inches towards the bed, sitting down next to Tweek. He stares at his lap, unable to look at Tweek's tearstained face. "Tweeky, it's me." Expecting the other to react violently, Luke patiently waits for it to happen. However, Tweek does no such thing, he remains quiet. Luke takes this as his cue to continue speaking. "I know why you're sad, and I want to apologize." He places his hand on top of Tweek's hand that's on the bed, causing the pale-haired blonde to jolt at the abrupt skin contact. He glides his eyes to their hands, his blank expression unchanging. "I know no amount of sorry's will make you feel better or make you hate me less...but I really am incredibly sorry for selfishly putting you through this grief. Because of me...you can never go back home...not even to visit, and for that, I really mean it when I say I am truly sorry."
The silence that follows isn't broken for some time. All Tweek wanted to know was why Luke had him get his blood sucked in the first place, then later turned him into a vampire. That's all he wants answers to. But at least Luke's apology just now sounded sincere, however his hatred towards him won't ever abate until he comes clean about his past actions. "I still hate you."
Luke forces up a small hurtful smile. "I know, and you have every right to." He slips his hand underneath Tweek's hand and raises Tweek's hand up to his lips, giving the back of his hand a soft kiss. "I deserve it after all." His cheeks exploding into a blush, Tweek yanks his hand away, holding it near his chest. Luke chuckles at his bashful reaction, then closes his eyes, reentering the body's subconsciousness.
Kyle walks up to him, sporting an approving smile on his face. "Good job being earnest in your apology. It'll take a long time, but Tweek will start to hate you less as long as you stay on his good side."
"Can't guarantee that since teasing him is fun," Luke tells him. Kyle rolls his eyes. "But anyway, take advantage of this while you still have the chance."
Kyle regards him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"What do you think? Just go already." Luke shoos him away.
Kyle regains control over his body, blinking his lime-green eyes open. He looks over at Tweek, surprised to see him staring at him. The drabness in his blue-green has brightened a little.
"How do you feel now?" Kyle asks.
Pursing his lips and lowering his hand down to his lap, Tweek averts his gaze back to the floor. "I...I don't know." He can't describe his current emotions. He's still unhappy, but after hearing Luke's apology, he feels somewhat...lighter? The appropriate word is not forming in his head.
Kyle frowns at his answer. "I'm sorry for not realizing the cause of your sadness sooner, I wouldn't have-"
"It's okay." Tweek strains a small smile through his complex feelings. "I really appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but..." His smile drops into a frown.
Kyle immediately appears dissatisfied as he looks away from Tweek. The day isn't over yet so he can still uplift Tweek's spirits, but he isn't sure how.
"Just kiss 'em already."
Taken aback, Kyle feels heat rising within his cheeks. "L-Luke-"
"You know you want to."
"...I just can't do that out of nowhere."
"Oh, but you didn't deny that you didn't want to do it," Luke points out cheekily.
"...S-shut up," Kyle retorts lamely, his blush darkening.
"I'll even help you out. After you kiss him, you tell him it was your Christmas present."
Kyle furrows his eyebrows, contemplating following through with Luke's idea. In the end, he decides...to give it a shot. "F-fine, but if this turns out to be a bad idea-"
"It won't. Trust me."
Kyle feels even more nervous with how confident his twin sounded. He waits some moments until his nerves calm down, then looks over at the teen next to him. "T-Tweek?" Oh great, he just had to stutter first thing.
The moment Tweek turns his head to give him his attention, Kyle doesn't hesitate to crash his lips against Tweek's, startling him stiff. They stay that way for exactly ten seconds, Kyle separating and staring into Tweek's wide eyes. He has yet to blink.
"Uh oh, I think you broke him."
"You said this would work!" Kyle says, both angry and embarrassed.
"No, I said it wasn't a bad idea. But hey at least you got to kiss your crush on Christmas so congrats! Should've done it under a mistletoe though."
"Luke, you -"
"W-why...did you..."
Kyle focuses on Tweek once he heard him mumble. Tweek finally blinks his eyes, and he appears immensely confounded as he raises a hand up to his lips.
"U-uh, Merry Christmas!" Kyle says with a forced smile.
The silence that follows would've been broken by Luke's laughter if he was physically in the room.
*Later In The Day*
"Gooood evening, and Meeerry Christmaaaas once again!" Michael exclaims into the microphone. Some vampires cheer Merry Christmas back to him over the blaring Christmas music while others are too absorbed into the foods, drinks, and desserts laid out on two tables within the cafeteria. "For those that weren't punished for being nosy brats, and for those that decided not to be a buzzkill this year, I hope you enjoy yourself to your hearts content! But don't dirty up the cafeteria too much otherwise Henrietta will have you helping the janitors clean up." He starts to walk off, but suddenly goes back to the microphone. "Also the mistletoe's were Token's idea, you all know what to do with them." Winking and laughing at Token's outburst saying no it wasn't, Michael finally walks off the stage joining Henrietta, who is accompanied by Vincent, Luther, Zerphy, Ebony, and Leon.
On the left and right sides of the cafeteria are a long table covered with an equally long white tablecloth, on top of them are an assortment of foods and desserts on plates and other dishes, and a fruit punch and blood fountain in the center of the tables. There are six circular tables that came from the library, each one either has a green, red, or white tablecloth with a single mistletoe on top of them placed in the middle.
Sat at one of the tables is a weary looking Christophe, and a pleased looking Damien. It's obvious that Christophe was coaxed into coming to the party, it's been a normal occurrence ever since previous celebrations. Pip and Gregory are sitting at another table, Pip doing most of the talking while Gregory listens with a small smile. Craig, Clyde, and Butters are busy stuffing their faces with food. They are only ever allowed to come to parties and other celebrations/events for good behavior, but they mainly come for the food. Very similar to another student who is far more obsessed with food than 'The Dangerous Three', Cartman is currently filling himself like a stuffed pig by one of the food tables.
Idling by the opposite food table are Kenny, Markus, Stan, and Ike. "I hope someone spiked the fruit punch," Kenny says, swirling his cup before drinking some of his juice.
"They probably did," Markus assumes, which is why he doesn't have a cup.
Stan and Ike examine their juice, Ike placing his cup down on the table while Stan shrugs, and takes a sip from his cup. He gets a tingly aftertaste. Ike settles on getting something to eat instead, a little upset that Firkle didn't want to come to the Christmas party.
"I wonder what Kyle and Tweek are doing right now," Kenny suddenly thinks. Unlike Luke, Kenny wasn't sure about Kyle's feelings towards Tweek. He didn't want to jump to conclusions thinking Kyle has feelings for Tweek just because they're in a bond. Either way, he hopes Kyle managed to put Tweek in a better mood, and that they will come to the party if so.
However, they don't show up even when the sky darkens. The party comes to an end thirty minutes before midnight, much to most vampires' dissatisfaction. They all disperse to their bedrooms so the janitors can begin cleaning up.
The halls become vacant when there's ten minutes left until midnight. The lights turn off, and a tall, well-built figure with a brown sack over his shoulder appears behind the balcony railing, his vibrant teal eyes narrowed. He's wearing a Santa Claus suit without the hat. He begins walking down the hall, his footsteps soundless. "I can't believe I have be some stupid secret Santa," he complains scratching his black hair. He stops by a room taking the bag from off his shoulder, opening and reaching down into it to pull out a present with a name written on it. He sets it down on the floor, knocks three times on the door, then teleports to the next bedroom the other humans are in.
Tweek stirs from his long nap after hearing the soft knocking, surprised to see himself in Kyle's arms. He doesn't recall how they ended up in this position nor when they changed into their pajamas, but he's still a bit emotionally drained to care. He carefully slips out of Kyle's slacken embrace, and gets out of bed, heading towards the door. Opening it, he sees nobody around, except for a box on the floor. He furrows his eyebrows, curious, and bends down to pick it up. To his shock, he sees his name written on it.
He closes the door, and goes to sit down on his bed. Him and Kyle were napping on the redhead's bed. Tweek places the gift over his lap, and stares at it, wondering whom could've given this to him and what is inside it. Nervously, he pulls off the lid, first seeing a Christmas themed envelope inside it. He takes it out, written on the front in black marker is, "To our son: Tweek Tweak".
Already he can feel his eyes beginning to water, he grabs then opens the envelope. He rids away the uprising tears so he can read what's in the letter, only for them to resurface after reading the first paragraph. His parents wrote that they missed him dearly, and were immensely sad to receive news from the Principal telling them that he wasn't going to be able to come home and celebrate Christmas with them. Though they were extremely grateful that they could at least send him his present, which is this letter. It ends with them saying that they love him, hope to see him soon, and Merry Christmas.
The letter flutters out of Tweek's hands, landing quietly to the floor. Tweek's body is racking with tremors, but he suppresses the urge to cry out.
Suddenly, a pair of arms wrap themselves around his shoulders from behind. Biting back a sob as the tears slither down his face, Tweek once again succumbs to Kyle's comforting embrace.
"Merry Christmas...mom and dad."