Well. I'm back. And i do not have time to reply reviews cuz I have another Christmas fic to work on as I only have 20 days and 2 hours (my time) till Christmas!! And i don't wanna write Christmas fics after Christmas cuz that'll just suck.

Enjoy lovers 3

The only thing worse than spilling hot chocolate on your lap is spilling hot chocolate on your lap as a string of Christmas lights is being wrapped around your neck. Darren had just learned this the hard way. At the other end of the string of lights was Seba, who had indulged in a bit too much eggnog. It was making him slightly...ripped out of his head.

"Seba, were you trying to kill me again?" Darren groaned. 'You know I'm not trying to make your lives miserable, I'm just trying to teach you some new traditions!"

"I do not...I do not...not appreciate...appreciating-stopcorrecting my grammar!-your socks, boy! Now go back in the cave!" Seba growled drunkenly, tottering away- right into the wall. Scrunch.

"Was he...trying to kill you...again, Darren?" Harkat asked, passing Darren a cloth to wipe up the spilled hot chocolate.

"Yeah, but it's only the third time this week, and he's drunk on eggnog. He can't really help himself." Darren answered reasonably. "And who knew he had such a low tolerance for alcohol? I can drink a whole jug and not notice anything! Normal Vampires should be able to drink for hours and stay sober."

"Seba is...hardly a normal Vampire."

"True that!"

"Darrendarrendarrendarrendarrendarrendarren!" squealed a familliar voice as Kurda galloped into the living room and crashed down on the couch between Darren and Harkat. "We got a whole entire tree!"

Sure enough, Mika and Arrow trundled into the room right behind Kurda, carrying a HUGE tree. Huger than huge. Taller than Arrow standing on top of Mika standing on top of Larten standing on Harkat as he jumped up and down. It was that tall. And fat. So fat that the whole gang could try to hold hands around it but not make a complete circle.

"That's a...big tree." Harkat commented.

'Uh huh." Mika grunted, as he and Arrow dropped it.

"Thanks for the help, Kurda. Couldn't have done it without you." Arrow glared.

"Duuuh. I provided moral support!" The blond announced as he presented one of his cheerleader-style concidence boosters.

"Good job, you two." Darren congratulated Mika and Arrow. "I would have come, but Paris and I were deciding on what music to use in our play."

"I'd almost forgotten about that." Mika sighed gloomily. "Now I'm thinking about it...and it sucks!" he moaned, retreating into the kitchen for hot chocolate.

Darren retreated behind the couch and dragged out a large box- marked "CHRISTMAS TREE STUFF". He opened it dramatically to reveal a dazzling array of balls, baubles, tinsel, ornaments, and figures, most of which were sparkly, and all of which would make an old-fashoined Vampire go "eek."

"Eek." said Arrow.

"Eek." said Paris.

"Eek." said Larten.

"Abom...abomin...aaagghhh..." Seba slurred.

"Eek." said Mika.

"Cool!" said Harkat.

"So...those go on the tree?" said Kurda.

Control, confidence, and charisma. Darren thought desperately. That's all I need to get through the holidays!

--

Half an hour later, Mika, Arrow, Larten, and Harkat had managed to set the tree upright in the Hall of Princes, well out of the way of the construction site of the stage and set. Darren had found several ladders and was leaning one up against the tree, wrapping it with bright red tinsel. Or at least he was, until Seba stumbled into the bottom of the ladder. Then Darren wound up with his face plastered to the floor and Harkat frantically checking his pulse. By the time Darren was un-dizzy enough to sit up and look around, the tree had been completely mummified in tinsel. With Harkat's help and Kurda's complaints, he removed half of it, leaving a workable amount, and strung several LONG strands of lights, leaving plenty of space for the decorations. So much space, in fact, that he figured he might have to place another order on eBay. But for now, it was time -gulp- to trim the tree.

"Watch closely." Darren instructed as he reached into the box, selected a red and green glass ball on a string, and carefully hooked it over a branch. Slowly, the gang followed suit. There were no problems the first time. Or the second. But on the third round, Kurda dropped his pink-robed angel, which shattered. A shard embedded itself in Mika's foot, so Mika brought his plastic icicle down on Kurda's head. Kurda howled and jumped backwards, knocking Seba over, whose inebriation prevented him from getting up, so he remained lying on his back, attempting to say "abomination."

Darren took a deep breath to regain his composure, then he dismissed the gang for a coffee break, while he, Harkat, and a sympathetic Larten remained behind to finish decorating the tree.

"I thought...you wanted us all...to decorate the tree...together?" Harkat said.

"That's what I wanted, but I also want these deorations to last a whole lot more Christmases." Darren sighed. "Plus, we still have the whole mountain to decorate."

"Joy to the world." Larten grumbled. Darren playfully grabbed a branch and pulled it back, then let it go so it swung forwards and smacked Larten in the face, knocking him from atop his ladder.

"Darren Shan!" Larten yelled viciously, shaking Darren's ladder so the boy Vampire plummeted to the ground. (again) But this time, Darren's fall was broken Larten, and they both did a faceplant onto a pile of wreaths and bells. Darren quickly rolled off his mentor and prepared to be verbally abused, but it never came. Shocked, he realised that Mr. Crepsley was making a sound that Darren had almost never heard before. The cranky orange-haired Vampire was laughing. And he sounded so ridiculous that Darren started laughing too, until he was on the floor banging his fists.

It wasn't even that funny. he reflected after he regained control. I guess that's just what it's like to get high off Christmas Spirit...

Suddenly, tree-trimming, Mountain-decorating, rehearsing, choreographing, painging, and everything else didn't seem like such a deadly task. In fact, Darren Harkat, and Larten sailed through the decorating of the Christmas tree, encountering only minor difficulties (Harkat falling from a high branch and dragging some lights down with him, and Darren getting tangled in tinsel.) Now they had to put the star on top...

To no one's suprise, Darren was the only one who was still focused after an hour of trying to get everyone on task. Kurda kept freaking out because he'd grown attached to the pretty gold star, and did not want to be seperated from it.

"You'll still be able to see it!" Darren growled, sounding more like Mika as he wrestled the star from the blond's death grip.

"But it matches my new Christmas shoes!" Kurda wailed.

"It can match from the top of the tree."

Kurda's response was a cross between a scream, a sob, and a howl that made Mika's eye twitch.

Darren held the ladder up against the wall, ordered Mika and Arrow to steady it, and scrambled to the top.

"And you need us all here...why?" Paris called from the bottom.

"It's the most special part of the whole tree!"

"Pfff. When I was your age, trees were plants. And they never came inside the mountain! The nerve of you shameful youngsters. If only our great ancestors remained, they would not tolerate this abominative obscenity!

"Uh huhhh..."

"Seba, was that a brand-new jug of eggnog I saw in the fridge?"

The old Vampire seemed to decide that a brand-new jug of eggnog was a bit more interesting than trying to prevent shameful youngsters from comitting abominative obscenities. But he returned before 30 seconds were over, clinging to his jug of 'nog. Apparently he was still capable of flitting.

"Okay everyone. Seba, put that down for a sec. We'll just do this one more thing, then we'll go-"

`"Make cookies?"

"Sleep?"

"Go Christmas shopping?"

"Do Not-Christmas stuff?"

"Wellllllll....I was thinking we were going to finish our first read-through of A Christmas Carol!"

Good thing Darren got the star on top of the tree before he got shot down by a particularly large pinecone.

Review and recieve a candy cane or two :)

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*Roxxy,
How do you stay so fresh?
I think cool thoughts.
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