Uuurgh! This took too long! I wanted to make it longer, but I got stuck, so... be happy with this chapter, I'll move onto the next one, finally!
A chapter set during Christmas, even though it's not Christmas. Yay!
Okay, reviews. Let's get these answered.
Guest: Glad you're enjoying it :)
Eislicht: Aaw, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry! :( I'm glad that the chapter got better, though, and yeah. Mesmer likes to annoy people with her bad sense of humour.
TheMadHatter74: Yeah, I didn't expect it to become much of a ship when I first through of it. Then I started thinking about it more, and then I just... I decided to build the ship and set sail XD Too much trauma? Umm... Whoops, hehe... My bad...
And on the subject of Ghastly, Anton and the Monster Hunters, I'm going to write a oneshot about that in the future. It'll be part of the 'Before, During, After and Otherwise' collection.
Well, I'm glad that people are enjoying this story and being patient with me. The next chapter will come up more quickly, I promise.
Chapter 26 – December's Fangs
It probably hadn't been a good idea to leave the bedroom window open overnight during December. It more or less literally came to bite Skulduggery and Erskine into wakefulness the next morning.
"Jesus Christ, it's cold," Erskine cursed blearily, curling up tighter into Skulduggery's arms for warmth. "Definitely not something you want to wake up to."
Highly perturbed by Mother Nature's rude wake-up call, Skulduggery gave a wordless growl of irritation and pulled the bedsheets over himself and Erskine. Heat swamped them both immediately, and provided them some respite from the biting temperature.
"When I was dead, the cold didn't get to me like this did," Skulduggery grumbled as he nuzzled Erskine's neck; the friction sending small sparks of pleasure flittering through the smaller mage.
"When you were dead, you didn't have any actual nerve endings, or any reason to be bothered by the cold," Erskine remarked.
"Touché."
Clarity hadn't noticed the slow increase in Christmas decorations that had accumulated throughout the mansion; hadn't realised that Valkyrie and the Pups had been the only ones to be putting them up; failed to recognise the meaning of the holly wreath that was hung on the door. Such things didn't matter all that much to them. Things changed, and they merely accepted it and sat by as the alterations took place.
They only began to realise that these developments were of significance when they caught Valkyrie erecting a tree in the living room. And not just any tree; a fir tree; the kind with the soft-pointed needles and bristling with the damned things. Clarity's first thought was 'This is going to murder the hoover when it starts shedding'; quickly followed by 'Crap! It's December!'
"Why didn't you tell me?" they implored loudly, catching Valkyrie's attention all of a sudden. "Dammit, Val, has anyone told you not to trust me with keeping track of dates?"
"Wait…" Valkyrie began. "You didn't know it was Christmas? For real?"
"Yes! For real! If someone starts putting up decorations, then I don't realise there's anything going on!"
Dumbfounded, Valkyrie stared at Clarity in a disbelieving fashion. "W-why?"
Clarity shrugged. "I just don't let change affect me. I have to rely on others to remind me of these types of things."
"At least tell me you've done some Christmas shopping."
"Nope."
"Get dressed, we're going Christmas shopping. The tree can wait."
"Err… where are Clarity, Val and the Pups?" Saracen asked as he walked into the living room. He'd woken up in a half-asleep stupor, and only noticed the absence of the five when he stumbled into the kitchen to realise that no one had made any coffee yet. And that he had no idea how to work Valkyrie's machine.
"I don't know," Dexter said as he followed close behind. Then he stopped; eyes locked on something in the corner of the room. "Why is there a… tree in the living room?"
Saracen just stared at the fir tree in question, wondering how on earth they hadn't noticed it before. "Oh," he murmured when everything finally clicked. "Val celebrates Christmas."
"And you've only noticed that now?" Skulduggery drawled as he walked in with Erskine at his side. "She hasn't shut up about it."
"I chose not to listen."
Exasperated, Skulduggery rolled his eyes and made to step forward, only for a hand to hold him back to the shoulder. Looking back, he saw Erskine looking at him nervously; glancing briefly up at the ceiling from time to time. Following his gaze, Skulduggery saw the sprig of mistletoe hanging from the doorframe; waxy green leaves gleaming in the light of the living room. Oh.
"You don't have to use tradition as an excuse to kiss me, you know," Skulduggery told him gently. However, he smiled and kissed Erskine anyway; ignoring the none-too-obvious stare from Dexter. Let him look, it wasn't as if he cared.
"I thought you were kidding," Dexter hissed in Saracen's ear. "But wow, they really are an item."
If the couple beneath the mistletoe had heard him, they paid no attention to him, instead embracing each other fondly as they broke off the kiss. Sappy grins were plastered onto their faces, and they both looked positively love-struck.
"Ahem," Saracen coughed, politely interrupting the cheesy romance. "As lovely as it is to see you two like that, we still have no idea where Val and the others are."
"They're probably just out shopping," Skulduggery dismissed. "We should make the most of this peace and quiet; it's probable that we won't be getting any for the rest of the month. Valkyrie said she was hosting the festivities this year, and a lot of rowdy, drunk Edgelys are going to be staying, gorging themselves on Christmas pudding and… whatever else people eat at this time of year."
"Okay, so… shall we start with breakfast? Who knows how to work the coffee machine?"