Louis was quickly deciding that it had been much too long since he'd gotten a chance to go to a party. Though to be honest, he never remembered it involving being hooked up to some sort of colander-like contraption. And he was also pretty sure he remembered it involving a lot less data analysis. Overall, it seemed to be a pretty quiet sort of party, except for maybe the Jackie Wilson music blaring from the radio. He felt like he was just about the only one talking to anyone else. He'd been told to keep going, though. Something about how discussing the finances behind the party planning seemed to raise his endorphin levels. And anyway, he was having a good time. This was much better than sitting around by himself all night.
All at once, the still atmosphere of the room was broken when Dr. Venkman came in, full of energy and carrying a large carton and an armful of red plastic cups.
"12:01. It is now December 25th." He pronounced. "Anybody know what that means?"
Louis's hand shot enthusiastically into the air. "Peking duck and no lines at the movie theater?"
"We're officially being forced to work on Christmas, that's what it means." Janine said with an annoyed scowl in her boss's direction. "People still expect the day off if they're Jewish, you know."
"It means that it's high time we break out the eggnog already." He responded with an expression that showed a stubborn refusal to be swayed by her complaining. "And you aren't being forced to work. We're all enjoying a company party that happens to be mandatory if you want a bonus this year."
"This sounds like extortion." She grumbled as she tapped a pen impatiently against her desk. "Louis, can I sue them for this?"
"Well-"
"No one is suing anyone." Dr. Venkman quickly interrupted. "Look, this wasn't my idea, I'm just making the best of it. Ask Egon about it. He says the safety of the world depends on us living it up tonight. Call me crazy, but that's good enough for me."
She looked accusingly over at Dr. Spengler, who only briefly glanced up from tracking the data on a nearby screen.
"That's not exactly how I explained it, but he's not entirely incorrect. There's no telling how much positive-charged slime we might need, and I want to take advantage of a day known for high spirits as long as possible."
"So I'm not just being forced to stay here all night, I'm supposed to be cheerful about it?"
"Essentially, yes."
The tapping against the desk grew a lot more forceful, and the look in her eyes suggested she was thinking up a lot of biting remarks towards everyone in the room.
"You know, this is going to be a long night if nobody but me is getting into the spirit around here." Dr. Venkman pointed out after chugging down the last of what was already his second cup of eggnog. "For example, I could tell you how that's the ugliest sweater I've ever seen, but in the spirit of the holidays, I'll just tell you that's a very nice picture of a moose."
She glared at him, and instinctively dug a hand into the wool in an almost protective sort of gesture. "Hey, no one else around here got me anything. I'm gonna wear what I did get."
The half-hearted bickering continued for a while, and Louis found that he was enjoying the night more than ever. He thought it reminded him of having a family around to get on each other's nerves while everyone was gathered together. At least, he imagined this was what it would feel like. His family never seemed to bother to get together. He definitely liked it, in any case.
Some time later, Janine came over to pull the colander off his head and tugged him away from the churning equipment, and merely responded to any objections with, "He's our accountant, not a battery. You can't just keep him there to charge your slime all night."
Talking about all the ways to save money on party food was fun, but he thought that getting a glass of eggnog with Janine was plenty of fun, too. This was definitely better than being at home.
"This is a great party, don't you think?"
"Oh, yeah, sure." She replied, though it seemed to be almost entirely lacking in enthusiasm.
He felt bad that she didn't seem to be having a good time. He wondered if there was anything he could do to help. It couldn't hurt to try, he figured. Still grinning from ear to ear, he set his cup down, and extended his hands hopefully towards her.
"Would you like to dance?"
She squinted at him a little curiously, and then glanced around the rest of the room. "Louis, no one's dancing."
"Well that's okay, maybe they'll join in if we start."
She hesitated for a moment, before she couldn't help letting a small smile tug at her own mouth, and she reached out and let him lead her over to a clear space. But even so, it wasn't long after that she was giving him a strange look that was somewhere between amused and surprised.
"You're an… interesting dancer, Louis."
Before he could ask what she meant, she pulled him closer, taking one hand in hers and guiding his other hand to her side.
"How about something a little more like this?"
As she guided him through a few quick steps, Louis was quickly becoming convinced that this was one of the best nights of his life. He was fairly certain what he was doing was closer to stumbling than dancing, but she didn't seem to mind, so he didn't either.
As the night wore on, things got better and better. And a little disorienting, maybe. That eggnog was good stuff, even if it tasted a little different than he was used to. And several cups later, he was sure that everything in the whole entire world was more amazing than it had ever been. Although he couldn't understand why the room seemed sort of crooked, like an off-balance picture frame you couldn't get to hang straight. The more it tilted, the harder he found it to walk straight. It must have gotten so hard he could manage it anymore, because things kinda went dark for a minute or two, and next thing he knew he was sprawled out on the couch.
"Dr. Venkman, next time you decide to throw a Christmas party in the firehouse, warn people the eggnog is full of brandy." He heard a voice come from somewhere above him. A very annoyed voice, but one he very much liked hearing.
"What kind of person goes to a Christmas party and doesn't assume someone spiked the eggnog? That's the only reason people buy this stuff."
This time, the bickering didn't continue very long. Maybe everything had been dark for longer than a minute or two. It seemed like things were wrapping up for the night.
"Louis? Do you want some coffee?"
There was that voice again. He really, really liked hearing it. And he was even happier when the person it belonged to came to sit next to him as he sloppily tried to pull himself upright.
"Yes, have some."
He wasn't sure where he remembered the words from, but he was in the sort of mood where almost everything seemed funny, and he couldn't help but laugh at himself. He slipped a little, and scrambled to grip at the fabric of the couch.
"Easy there. You doing alright?"
"I'm great. I feel great. Never been better."
"Yeah, I'll bet. You've got a pretty good buzz going there."
Somehow, he successfully managed to pull himself up to his feet. He hadn't quite planned ahead to staying that way. But at least he didn't start to fall for very long before two hands reached out to grab him.
"Alright, I think I'd better make sure you get home safe." Janine stated decisively.
He definitely wasn't about to complain. He was always happy to spend more time with her. And she even managed to get them a taxi. Despite how long he'd lived in New York, he'd been in taxis very rarely. There were cheaper ways to travel, and they never seemed to stop for him anyway. But Janine seemed to be one of those people who'd perfected the art of whistling for their attention in a way they found impossible to ignore.
By some miracle, he still did have the key to his apartment, but it still took some time to get him into the building in the first place. Janine spent awhile arguing with the night worker stationed at the front desk. He was still a little confused about… well, everything, really, but he caught a few words here and there.
"No, he's not 'the weird little delivery guy with the casseroles'! His name is Louis Tully, and he lives here!"
But finally, he was at his front door. And suddenly things didn't seem quite so great anymore.
"Everything alright there?"
He peered into the dark room, and shook his head. "Do you ever wonder if..." He paused, struggling to figure out how to put into words what he was thinking. Right then, he was finding his mind swirling with a lot of things he usually tried not to think about. He was used to it being quiet in there. He usually liked to watch movies until he fell asleep, just so he could hear voices and pretend he wasn't so on his own. Some of those old black-and-white reruns sometimes felt like his only friends. "If maybe life is like one big game of hot potato. Like you're just being pushed along, and no one wants to end up stuck with you?"
She stared at him quietly for a moment, and then extended her arms towards him. "Louis, do you need a hug?"
Yes, he very much did. He nodded and eagerly stepped forward, nearly tripping over himself in the process. He was sure he would have would up on the floor, but two fists formed in his coat and held him so he couldn't fall. He couldn't even remember the last time someone had pulled him close like this. He couldn't help thinking that she fit kinda perfect against him. And from how tightly she held on, he almost thought she needed this as badly as he did.
But all to soon, she pulled away again. "Go get some sleep Louis, alright?"
Much as he hated to admit it, he really did feel about ready to collapse right where he was standing. But he supposed it was alright. He could see her again in the morning. He wondered if it could possibly come fast enough.
It was crowded outside. So crowded he could hardly manage to move through all of the people. But he knew he had somewhere he needed to be, so he kept trying to make his way forward. He felt heavy, like something was trying to drag him down. It made it even harder to move. But he had to. He couldn't stop.
The building loomed before him, large and swollen to many times its usual size. There were the people inside, none of them looking. None of them noticing. Calm and distracted from any danger. He reached out, and his fists hit hard, solid glass.
"Please! Somebody!"
The glass began move, subtly at first, but then it distinctly began to ripple and warp. It became thicker, irregular, pulsing. Like some sort of living, breathing monster.
He frantically scrambled back as it began to move, oozing past it's frame and spreading out in every direction. It started to take on a sickly pink color as it moved to surround the building, swallowing up his view of what was inside. He tried to step forward again, but it was already beginning to re-harden into a solid shell he didn't even dare trying to touch. He couldn't get in. He'd never get in. He-
He woke up, not to the usual sound of his alarm clock, but to an insistent squeaking noise. Instinctively, one hand fumbled for his glasses, which he quickly found on his nightstand and slid onto his face.
'Get up.' Some small, rational voice managed to make its way through the pounding in his head. 'You can't stay here on your own. Just get up.'
Barely aware of what he was doing, he pulled himself to his feet and stumbled towards the noise that had woken him. He was a little more awake by the time he'd made his way over to the hamster cage, and his heart began to slow as he unlatched it and carefully picked up the small creature inside. He'd found that having a pet around seemed to help when this sort of thing happened. There was something about petting a soft little ball of fur that had a very calming effect, and he'd spent a lot of nights pacing the floor and quietly telling stories to the small, fuzzy, and willing-to-listen ears until he'd gotten his mind off of everything enough to go back to sleep.
But this time, he only got partway through explaining how Cinderella was the next of kin and legally should have inherited the entire estate, only the probate courts weren't so good back then, so the Wicked Stepmother managed to claim the whole thing. He was just starting to get into the various violations of federal labor laws when his mind cleared enough for him to realize that he hadn't woken up in the middle of the night like he usually did. Light hurt his head badly, which made it impossible not to notice that it was bright outside. He glanced at the clock, and quickly shut his eyes as he drew in a sharp breath. He must have forgotten to set his alarm, and he was well past being late for work. Even if he could muster up the energy to get ready in a hurry and race out the door, he wouldn't be anywhere close to on time. And with the way he felt at the moment, he was pretty sure he'd rattle apart into a million pieces if he tried to do anything too quickly.
The impatient squeaking started up again, and he winced as he realized just how behind he was getting on everything.
"Sorry, you probably want breakfast already, don't you little guy?"
He gently placed his pet back in the cage, and began to measure out the vet-recommended amount of pellets from the brand of hamster food that came with the highest nutritional value. And because he felt bad about causing a delay from the usual schedule, he stopped by the fridge and added a baby carrot to the bowl.
He was doing his best to keep his mind on track instead of further descending into a train wreck, and he figured the next thing he had better do was call in to apologize and promise he was on his way. As soon as the phone stopped ringing, he had hardly gotten a chance to open his mouth before a voice spoke up from the other end.
"Look, I'm just gonna save you some time. Yes, we're booked solid until after the New Year, no, it will not change anything if you say that your problem is urgent, and if I hear one more person complain about how those thermal beverage mugs are turning their drinks green because they couldn't be bothered to wash the slime out…"
He shut his eyes again, and did his best to force back a groan. At the moment, the mere thought of that putrid green slime was enough to make his stomach turn a summersault.
"Louis? That you?"
"Hi. I, uh… I know I'm pretty late…"
Even if he couldn't see, he could easily imagine the way she'd be smiling at him and giving a faint shake of her head. "Don't worry about it. I figured you'd probably need to sleep things off a little after last night." She interrupted him, the earlier irritation completely gone from her voice. "Why don't you just take the morning off, and you can come in the afternoon if you feel up to it. I can manage to hold down the fort around here for a little while."
He felt like maybe he should insist that he was fine, but the idea of having time to dive back into bed for awhile and then get a shower once he was feeling a little more like himself was much too tempting.
"Thanks." He responded, the gratitude very evident in his voice.
"It's no problem. You holding up okay?"
"Yeah, I'm doing okay. I just got Gibbs his breakfast."
There was a curious silence for a few moments. "Gibbs?"
In spite of the fact that he felt like his head was being shredded, a little of his usual perky attitude was starting to shine through. "Yeah, that's what I'm calling my hamster. I named him after the Commissioner of the IRS."
There was a small noise, which he thought sounded like a short breath of laughter.
"Of course you did."
They exchanged a few more minutes of pleasantries, but it wasn't long before she had to get back to work, and he wasn't all that up for conversations yet anyway. He did already feel better though. Still very, very terrible, but better.
He did always like talking with people. But with Janine it was… different. Special. Maybe it was just because he admired her a lot, and it was nice to know that someone like her thought he was worth giving the time of day. And she did more than just notice that he was there, she actually went out of her way to find time to spend with him. And there was the way he didn't have to pound on the door and yell until someone heard him every time he had to step out for something, because she'd learned that he would always manage to lock himself out and would be there to let him back in. She didn't even seem annoyed about it, either.
Really, he didn't think he could even count the reasons she made him look forward to coming in to work every day. And he still didn't know how to describe the way she often made him feel. It was like a happiness that pounded in his chest, and made him sure that he couldn't stop smiling even if he wanted to try. More and more, he'd found himself thinking about the times their eyes would happen to meet, or when their hands would brush over the paperwork, or when he realized he was happy to wait all day just for the chance of a few minutes to talk to her, or…
Oh.
It… it was…
Oh.