3

The next morning, Count Bleck woke up very late, and didn't bother to shower or otherwise make himself look clean and organized. He simply didn't have the spirit to play that character today. He walked into the living room on his way to the kitchen and was surprised to find more chaos going on than what was usual. O'Chunks was carrying a huge pine tree haphazardly through the living room. Nastasia and Mimi were arguring about just where it should be placed to look good, and poor O'Chunks was swaying back and forth, the tree branches nearly missing those who were standing around watching.

"O'Chunks! barked Count Bleck," the Count said in an effort to get him to stay still. Everyone froze and looked to Count Bleck. "Just put that down in the corner by the fireplace, would you? It doesn't really matter where you put a Christmas tree." O'Chunks complied, waiting until Mr. L had set up the tree stand to drop it in with a thump.

The Count sighed, turning to leave. Mimi ran in front of him and stopped him from going. "You're not gonna help us decorate?" she asked, employing her cuteness.

"No, Count Bleck is not in the mood," he replied.

Mimi gasped, her eyes widening. "Please?"

"No," the Count said sternly.

Mimi wasn't budging. "But you can't spend Christmas alone! Please?"

Count Bleck thought about how many times he'd spent Christmas alone, even with Nastasia by his side. His tired expression lightened and he smiled just the slightest bit. "Alright, just let me eat something first."

Mimi squealed and caught him up in a big hug. "Thank you! This is the best Christmas ever!" She ran to help Dimentio and Nastasia bring in boxes of decorations. The Count shook his head with a sad smile and continued on to the kitchen.

When Count Bleck returned, a good portion of the massive tree had been decorated. He looked up as he approached and saw that the top of it nearly reached the lofty ceiling of the room. All of the garland and colored lights had been thrown on, and his minions were busy hanging ornaments.

Mimi noticed him. "Hiya, Count! You and Dimentio can hang the stuff further up."

Count Bleck nodded and waited for an ornament to be handed to him. Nastasia gave him a glass bulb shaped like a silver bell. He levitated up and hung it on a randomly chosen branch, making sure it wouldn't fall before he came back down. He noticed that Nastasia was wearing a Santa hat and seemed much more cheerful than she was a few days ago. The sight of the cheerfulness and friendship of his minions surprised him by making him feel happy.

After several more trips up and down, all of the ornaments that could fit were hanging, and strands of tinsel were sparkling in the black fire that lit the room. Overall, it was a very colorful, albeit disorganized, Christmas tree. All that was left was the star.

"Count, you should put on the tree topper." Mr. L said, looking pretty happy himself.

"Yeh are teh boss after all," O'Chunks added.

Count Bleck hesitated for a moment before taking the star from Dimentio and lifting himself up to the top of the tree. He carefully fit the star over the top branch of the tree, then plugged it in. It lit up with a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors, and his minions gave a cheer at the completion of the tree. He floated back down and was startled by a surprise group hug from O'Chunks, Mr. L, and Mimi. They held him tightly for a moment before letting go.

"Thank you so much, Count," Mimi said, her eyes watery.

"Looks good, don she?" O'Chunks commented.

"Yup. Now who wants to decorate everything else?" Mr. L asked.

"This is a big castle, Mr. L, Count Bleck interjected," interjected Count Bleck, who had finally allowed himself to be affected by the familial spirit. "We would never be done in time. Perhaps we should focus on this room."

"Sounds great. Now we just gotta do that and get each other presents." Mr. L continued.

"Oh my gosh! I totally forgot about the presents with all the fun!" Mimi exclaimed.

Count Bleck nodded, having been considering gifts in the back of his mind but had forgotten about it for the most part. Without any kind of signal, everyone split up to go to their individual rooms and think about what everyone else might want. Walking down the hallway, the Count mulled over what would delight his minions, but couldn't help but think about what sort of gift she might have wanted…

Two weeks later…

Count Bleck woke up, groaned, and rolled over. You couldn't tell time in this dimension, but he still thought it was too early. Then again, he was never a morning person anyway. He jumped and blinked groggily when the door to his bedroom burst open and Mimi started jumping up and down giddily by his bedside.

"Wake up! It's Christmas!" she said. When he was too slow to respond, she grabbed his arm and tried to drag him out of bed. "C'mon! Get up! There's presents to open!"

"Mimi, patience please. Let Count Bleck get dressed at least."

"Aww, but hurry up!" Count Bleck gave her a pointed look and she added a "please" before bounding out the door. He suspected that if the rest of the minions weren't awake yet, they would soon be. He chuckled to himself and pulled on his usual clothing.

Entering the living room, he saw that everyone else had already gathered. Most of them were still wearing their pajamas. The tree looked healthy, as Nastasia had been taking impeccable care of it. A pile of presents, small but homely, sat under the lower branches. Nobody had much money saved up, so at most they could get their fellows one gift each. Despite that, they had gone all out, trying to make sure everyone came away happy.

When they saw him, they gathered into a semi-circle around the presents, leaving a space where he sat down momentarily. After a brief discussion on what order they should open presents in, they decided to go around the circle and open them by gift-giver, starting with all of O'Chunks' presents to the others.

At the end of an hour of shredded wrapping paper, bow fights, and appreciation, they all settled down on the couch to watch Christmas specials on TV. They had all received some very good gifts, but of course each had their favorite. O'Chunks had come away with a new set of weights given to him by Mr. L. Mimi had a brand new diary, gifted by Dimentio, who snickered to himself as he already knew how to break into it. Mr. L had a new green scarf and a massive toolbox filled with new wrenches and a multitude of other useful tools. He thanked O'Chunks profusely for that, who said it was no problem at all.

Dimentio had received from Nastasia a set of mystery novels, the first of which he was already reading. In turn, Dimentio had given her a new inkwell and some fancy pens, and she had also gotten some professional-looking notebooks from Mimi.

Nobody was quite sure what Count Bleck liked, since he was so aloof most of the time, so he had mostly gotten all sorts of books. He didn't mind at all, as he loved to read when he managed to find some free time, and truly appreciated the thought.

As they all went to bed that night, they felt better than they had in the previous months of failure after failure. Dimentio felt conflicted by the feelings of friendship and comradeship he'd been shown, and by his own feelings of affection. Count Bleck fell asleep with just a little more hope in his heart.